Betting on Love
by IsshiNene
Summary: It was only for a gym schedule, but he got a lot more than what he bargained for. Normal High School!AU
1. A Win-Win Situation

**Betting on Love**

 **Ch. 1: A Win-Win Situation**

* * *

"Honestly, I can't stand that girl! Who the hell does she think sh— Ah yo, Isshiki." The two second years turned their attention to the tall brunette, who by the way, was ten minutes late into their lunch.

"What kept you so long? You missed like half of my story!" Kuga complained.

"Sorry, something at the cafeteria held me up."

He set his lunch on an adjacent desk to the two, moving a bag to pull up a chair to join their conversation. Satoshi noted the empty classroom, wondering if everyone had already grown tired of Kuga's outburst and split in the first half of lunch to find a quieter place to eat. _It's a new record_.

"Who are you talking about?" Satoshi asked, breaking apart his chopsticks, relishing in the audible snap of the wood.

"Oh ho, let's not get ahead of ourselves, Isshiki-chin! What's this I see?" Sticking ever so slightly from Satoshi's coat pocket was the corner of a white envelope. Had it been any other person, it could be said that Satoshi hid the envelope quite well, but of course leave it to his nosy friends to catch his errors. Kuga sat up abruptly to swipe the object of interest, shifting the chair backward slightly.

"Hey! Kuga-kun, give it back!" Satoshi protested.

"Is this a _love letter_ I see, Isshiki-chin?" Kuga lifted the flimsy paper to the light filtering through the windows, inspecting the cursive, handwritten letters in the shape of his friend's name. He even squinted a little, trying to make out some words through the translucent paper.

"Is this why you're late? Did someone confess to you again?" Kuga teased, "How'd it feel to break this unlucky girl's heart, huh?"

Satoshi rolled his eyes at his pestering friend, easily grabbing the note from his hands. "It's nothing like that, she just gave it to me," he confessed as he tucked it back into his blazer.

"What an oblivious prince you are, Isshiki," Kuga remarked, slouching back into the chair, sucking the straw of a practically empty juice box loudly.

"I don't want to talk about that, Kuga-kun," Satoshi sighed, turning his attention back to his lunch. "Who were you talking about earlier?"

He observed the sudden squeeze of the blonde's hand, signaling to him that he had done his job at redirecting the conversation back to Kuga's outburst.

"That bitch! Little miss smartass!"

Confused, Satoshi turned towards Eizan, who was scrolling through his phone, obviously uninterested in the conversation.

"Kinokuni," Eizan replied, not bothering to look up.

"She called me a midget in front of everyone in the middle of history! Who the hell does she think she is, insulting me like that! She is such a stuck-up, rule-abiding, prude!"

Satoshi couldn't help but laugh, "You must have provoked her first, Kuga-kun."

"That he most definitely did," Eizan chimed in.

"Did not!"

"You were telling the whole class that she was grouchy because she was 'on the rag.'"

"Whatever, she deserved it!"

"Kuga-kun, you shouldn't say those things to girls. No wonder she insulted you back," Satoshi cautioned.

"Agh! Of course, you would defend her, Mr. Everyone-loves-me." Kuga jeered. "Hasn't she been getting on your nerves lately?"

Satoshi took a moment to think back to his interactions with Kinokuni Nene over the past couple of weeks, which frankly outside of council meetings, debate club and brief discussions in chemistry class were few and far in between.

However, before he could respond, Eizan beat him to it. "She's been getting on mine. Do you know how much of a pain she's been in terms of the stupid rules and protocols at meetings? Everything is about deadlines, deadlines, and deadlines! Not to mention all the work she's been giving everyone since the beginning of the year."

"You see! Who stuck a stick so far up her butt that made her so freaking cold and nasty to everyone? Honestly, how in the world is _she_ our class president? If you hadn't decided to take the role of vice president last minute we wouldn't be in this position right now, Isshiki!"

Satoshi sighed at Kuga's reprimand, tired of hearing his chastising over and over again from that decision. "Kuga-kun, there was no guarantee that I would have won."

"Oh, don't play pretend with me! We all know, probably even little miss Pigtails as well, that you could have easily won with your popularity."

"Really? I guess we will never know," Satoshi brushed off the comment, returning a carefree smile much to Kuga's consternation. "The vice president has less work to deal with anyway. It's a better position for me."

"Hmph, whatever!"

Carried away by his fit of giggles at Kuga's expense, the talk of the council reminded Satoshi of some business he almost forgot to mention.

"Oh yeah, by the way, I need some help from you guys," Satoshi appealed, digging through his school bag to find his file of papers. "Here, look over these."

As the two looked over the handouts, Satoshi continued, "It's a proposal to Headmaster Senzaemon about a revision of the club activities schedule in the gym."

"Is this about the _kendo_ club again?" Eizan asked, flipping the pages of the document.

"Yes, I want more time and space for us to practice. We can't keep sharing our sessions with the girls' volleyball team anymore. That's why I need you guys to support me during our semester meeting."

Kuga lazily flipped through the papers as he slouched into the back of the chair, uninterested in council talks. "Isshiki-chin," he sighed, "there's no way you'll get the seniors to back you up. Rindou-senpai is the captain of the girls' volleyball team. You think she'll voluntarily want to give up court time? On top of that, she basically has total influence over Tsukasa-senpai and Momo-senpai."

In agreeance, Satoshi nodded his head, already anticipating opposition from the third years. "Yes, but I'm pretty sure Saito-senpai and Megishima-senpai would back the _kendo_ club."

"Even still it would be pointless," Eizan commented, "It would be a tie if we were to vote with you. The old man would break the tie and you already know that he'll rule against the revision."

"I at least need to get to the tie-breaker then! Our tournament is coming up and we need to practice. I really need both of you guys to vote in favor of the proposal."

"That would be stupid for us, Isshiki. You know the politics of the council. I don't think it's smart for us to vote against the seniors."

"Yeah, I especially don't wanna get on Rindou-senpai's bad side," Kuga interrupts, setting the papers on the desk. "Sorry, Isshiki-chin. I'll only vote if you have the majority."

 _What are friends for, huh?_ he thought, running a hand through his locks. "I can't guarantee that. Nakiri is on the girls' team as well." Satoshi groaned, racking his head for possible solutions before Kuga presented him with one instead.

"Aren't you forgetting about someone, Isshiki-chin?" Kuga raised his left eyebrow, teasingly.

Satoshi took a moment to realize who Kuga was hinting at. "Weren't you just complaining about her, Kuga-kun? You know that Kinokuni won't side with me on an issue like this."

The blonde broke out in a hardy (and annoying) laugh, causing Eizan to cover his ears to keep them from bleeding. "Ah, so you finally agree with us, huh? I'm sure she'll give you a pass, aren't you a special case after all, Isshiki-chin? Being her childhood lover and—"

"That's not true! I just stayed with her family for a while, that's all." Isshiki defended. "Plus, I'm sure she doesn't even consider me a friend, let alone anything more than that."

"Why don't you just work your female magic and charm a vote out of her then?" Kuga joked, returning to sucking on the air inside his straw and closing his eyes.

"Ha, yeah. How funny," Satoshi played along, laughing at the prospect of him hitting on Nene. _Yeah, really funny_. Picking at the grains of rice left in the container, he popped a piece of _karaage_ in his mouth, chewing in the absence of the conversation that died minutes ago. Or so he thought.

Suddenly, Kuga jolted awake; standing up from his chair to pound his fists on the desk in revelation. The noise was enough to shock Satoshi and Eizan from their thoughts and turn their attention towards the invigorated student.

"That's exactly what you should do, Isshiki!" he shouted.

"Do what?" Satoshi asked, mid-chew.

"Ask Pigtails out!" At the announcement of Kuga's grand idea, Satoshi nearly choked on the chicken, coughing violently to the side.

"Wh— What!?"

"Think about it. If you start dating her, she'll vote on your side for your proposal. That way you can get the majority vote and pass the schedule. On top of that, it'll benefit us because she'll be more lenient and less of a pain in the butt for the council! You know what they say, Isshiki-chin? There is nothing more beautiful than a woman in love! It's a win-win situation for everyone! You get your vote and we get her off our backs." Kuga leaned closer to the brunette, looking straight into his friend's shocked blue eyes with fire and excitement, urging Satoshi to consider the idea.

Satoshi scooted his chair away from Kuga, overwhelmed by his friend's plan. "There is no way I could ever do that!" he hotly disagreed.

"Isshiki is right. I don't think that hag can even feel emotion, let alone fall in love," Eizan smirked, amused at his own comment. "Although, it would be quite funny to see this idiot try to woo her."

"You see! It's a deal then. If you can make her fall in love with you, Mr. Mob-face here and I will vote for your proposal at the end of the semester."

"Huh?!"

* * *

AN: My first real multi-chapter story! It's also my first real Isshiki!centric story. I initially wasn't going to upload this until I at least got most of it written, but my excitement couldn't wait. I'll try to keep my writing pace up so the wait between chapters isn't too long. I'm expecting this to run for about ten to eleven chapters so expect a long one :)

Oh yeah, if you couldn't tell, this is a Highschool!AU, so no cooking here. The school isn't really consistent with Japanese high schools or American, it's sort of a mixture of both so please bear with it! I also now have a headcanon forever in my brain that _kendo_ would be something Isshiki would be really good at for some reason...Enjoy!


	2. An Approach

**Betting on Love**

 **Ch. 2: An Approach**

* * *

A deep breath exhaled as Satoshi squeezed his eyes shut. Mornings were a time of relaxation for him; to breath in the fresh air, smell the blooming flowers, feel the early dew. So the last thing he was expecting himself to do first thing on that splendid May morning was to approach the rowdy group of gossiping girls who always hang out beside the restrooms. It's times like these when he begins to reflect on the messy situation he has gotten himself into, but also where he realizes it's too late to back out as well.

Glancing at the clock, he noticed he didn't have much time to stall any longer. _Ten minutes till homeroom._ It was now or never.

Walking up to the girls, he spotted his target and tapped her on the shoulder. "Um, Yanai-san?"

The pink-haired girl spun around, surprised — but it seemed he not only caught her attention but her entire group's as well, for their loud chatter grew quiet upon his arrival.

"Look who's here! Mea! Mea! What did you do to earn this prince's time?" a female student (whose name Satoshi couldn't remember) teased.

"Like hell I know!" Yanai scolded at her friend's insinuations. "Isshiki, what do you want?"

"Ah sorry to bother you… all. May I speak with you… _in private_?" Satoshi took careful measure to whisper the last part. "It won't take long, I promise."

She eyed him suspiciously, before replying, "Mm, okay. But it better not be for a confession, you're not my type," Yanai offered him a smirk, laughing in unison with the group at her coyness.

"Ah, you don't need to worry about that."

His classmate broke away from the girls to lead him to a secluded part of the halls near the fire escape. Although he knew Yanai for a while, he never had the opportunity — the reason — to really speak with her other than for sharing lab answers. Nor was he necessarily looking forward to his upcoming conversation with the girl.

"So," she spun around, letting her side ponytail swing, "what is this about?"

Dodging her hair, he took a couple of steps back. "Can we switch lab partners for the week?" Satoshi cut to the chase.

"Hah!" she exclaimed, widening her black eyes. "No way!"

"Come on, please?"

"What's wrong with Kaburagi-san!?"

"Nothing. It's just—"

"No way! Kinokuni-san basically does all the work for me. It's an easy pass."

"Please, Yanai-san," Isshiki pled. Scratch what he thought earlier, _begging_ Yanai in order to be partners with Nene was perhaps the last thing he thought he would be doing. "I really need to talk to Kinokuni-kun. Kaburagi-san is a capable partner as well."

Yanai sighed, carding her fingers through her flowing, pink locks, readjusting her matching pink ribbon. "Sorry, Isshiki. No can do," she shrugged unapologetically, moving to pass Satoshi.

For the amount of time Satoshi has known Nene, he knew she would never approach him first. She hated him for god sakes. So seeing chemistry as his only real in-school opportunity to talk with her, he needed to take advantage of it. And he won't let Yanai Mea get in the way of him and his gym schedule.

Before Satoshi let the steps of her skips become too quiet, he called the girl again. "I get it, Yanai-san. Sorry for bothering you. But I also wanted to ask, how long have you worn that ribbon?" Hearing the sounds pause, he knew he caught her attention. "Isn't it getting sort of tattered?" He turned around to face her, offering a gentle smile.

"You've noticed! Ugh, it's getting so old, I really need a new— Hey! What are you getting at?"

"Oh you know," he pretended to walk leisurely around her. "I was just wondering if you saw that really cute scrunchie from the new accessory store in town? I was thinking of getting it for my sister," rounding to her front, he leaned in closer to deliver the final blow. "I think it was pink...with purple accents."

Her posture straightened and her eyes widened in excitement, "I want it! I want it!" Yanai repeated like a child asking for candy.

 _Honestly, so easy_. Satoshi smiled at the success of his plan. "Eh? But I was going to get it for my beloved sister!" he played his disbelief.

"Isshiki! It's totally my style!" she complained.

"Alright, alright then. How about this? If I get it for you, you'll let me be partners with Kinokuni-kun for a week."

"Hm…" Yanai contemplated out loud, "Fine! Take her!" she yelled.

"Ah, really? Thank you, Yanai-san!" Satoshi lit up.

Before he could say much else, the first rings of the bell resounded through the halls, signaling the warning for the start of class.

"I'm going to be late!" Yanai said hurriedly, preparing to sprint down the hall. "A deal is a deal, Isshiki! I better have that scrunchie by the end of the week!"

"I promise!" Satoshi yelled back in response to the slender girl. He smiled to himself, amused by the fact that he was finally able to set something in motion.

 _Sister? I don't even have a sister._

* * *

For all the trouble that he went through to become her chemistry lab partner, she certainly didn't seem to appreciate his efforts.

"What are you doing, Isshiki?" Nene side eyed the brunette while tying her apron in place.

"I'm your lab partner for the week," he smiled. Satoshi noticed her eyes narrowing, analyzing his motives in suspicion. Her head turned towards the back of the class where she caught Mea laughing obnoxiously loud while Kaburagi Shoko continued to mix the chemicals. He assumed she understood the switch between him and Yanai for she didn't inquire any further, or maybe she simply didn't care.

He watched her for a couple of minutes, silent but curious, enthralled by how nimbly she worked. Like her measurements, her movements were quick and precise. Although this was his first time being her lab partner, this was by far not the first time he was paired with her. Following the appointments of the Totsuki Prep Academy's 91st Council Elections, Satoshi currently serves as the vice president of his class — in essence, Nene's second in command. It was their duty to organize most of the school events and rule over decisions in council meetings, so it wasn't unusual for their documents to be filed jointly. However, whatever their relationship is defined on paper, the two hardly interacted on friendly terms. But to be fair, very few interacted with Nene on cordial terms.

It would be a lie for Satoshi to claim he didn't know why Nene was so hostile towards him. He definitely acted like an idiot sometimes, but he wasn't oblivious. To most, it seemed like a natural position for both to be the top two in the class. But, it hadn't always been that way, with Nene in first followed by himself behind her.

Satoshi took a moment to realize just how much of his life had included Nene in it, attributing it to the close relationship between their two families. Both came from well-established backgrounds. Nene is the only daughter of the famous Kinokuni group, while he was the eldest son of the Isshiki group, both influential families in the _Kanto_ and _Kansai_ regions of Japan respectively.

As part of his clan's traditions, he was sent to live at the Kinokuni residence at a young age, where he first met Nene. _Was it three or four years old when we first met?_ From there, their friendly interactions only seemed to grow colder as he began to surpass her in all her lessons: math, literature, calligraphy, music, sports, _anything really_. Satoshi is what you could describe as a prodigy with an ability to quickly master anything he tried.

He always looked back at his time with her family fondly, but it seemed for Nene that her resentment towards him had manifested itself into a one-sided rivalry between themselves. Although he didn't understand why she kept up her aloof personality when he clearly has no motivation to surpass her. Or maybe the real problem was his lack of motivation to set things straight with her.

"What are you staring at?" Nene said harshly, breaking him from his stream of thoughts. "I don't need a partner that just daydreams all day."

"Ah Kinokuni-kun, so _tsuntsun_ today, huh?" he teased much to her irritation. "Would you mind explaining to me what you're doing?"

"You should have done your prelab assignment."

"Well, I thought that you might be better at explaining things. You did get the highest score on the last exam after all!" Satoshi complimented, flashing her his signature smile.

Despite his efforts to get a conversation going, Nene's icy exterior seemed harder to break than he had thought. He served more as a tool for passing instruments as he watched her complete the experiment, rather than any sort of partner he had hoped to be that day. Maybe he just wasn't asking the right questions.

"Hey Kinokuni-kun, how has your debate been com—"

"This is wrong," he heard her mumble under her breath to herself, as she glanced over the data table. "Why isn't the precipitate forming?"

"Huh?" Satoshi asked, leaning over to see her paper.

Surprised, she jumped at bit by his sudden closeness before shifting away from him.

"Oh," he pointed to her worksheet, "You didn't balance the equation correctly. This should be a six, not a two. Also, this product should be a liquid, not aqueous. I think that's what threw off your—"

"I didn't ask for your help!" she cut him off annoyed. "If you can do this then just do the experiment by yourself!" At that, Nene swiped her paper away from Satoshi's eyes, moving to one of the empty lab tables… _without him_.

* * *

Satoshi had never noticed how quickly she walked from class to class, for he had a hard time keeping up with her as they transitioned from fourth to fifth period. He trailed behind her, putting a bit more effort into his steps than his usual leisure pace.

"Kinokuni-kun, hold up," he called, although his words fell on deaf ears. Perhaps not deaf since her pace quickened instead.

"Ah, Isshiki-kun! May we talk with you," he felt a hand tug his blazer, turning his attention behind him. It was a girl he recognized from his math class. _Not another confession, please._

"Sorry, I'm in a bit of a hurry," Satoshi apologized, turning his attention back forward. He searched for the familiar green pigtails in the sea of students in the crowded hallways, craning his neck to find her. But to no avail, she was gone.

* * *

Maybe he was being too obvious, waiting for her like that at the front of the library, not even bothering to prepare some sort of excuse as to why he was there other than for the fact that he wanted to walk her back to her dorm.

For as confidently and carefree Satoshi likes to carry himself, Nene sure was doing a good job at keeping him on his toes. _Perhaps that's what Eizan-kun meant by finding amusement out of this_. Or maybe he wasn't so used to her prickly attitude as he had thought.

"Kinokuni-kun," he sang as he approached her, "Let's walk home together!"

She didn't even stop to pause for him, keeping her sight and path straight. Not like that deterred him from following her though.

"Chapelle-sensei was a bit tough today, don't you think? His tests are usually really hard so I wonder how—"

"Isshiki, your dorm is on the other side of the campus!" Nene sighed, cutting him off.

"Oh, really?" Satoshi laughed, "I can still walk you to—"

"Look," Nene interrupted, turning towards him. "Unless you want to talk about a council-related matter, I really don't want to talk to you! Why don't you channel all this useless energy into finishing your paperwork on time!" she scolded, resuming her path and quickened pace away from him.

As he watched her figure become smaller in the distance, Satoshi took a deep breath in defeat. His entire week's endeavors to catch her attention— no scratch that, just to _talk_ with her had been completely and utterly fruitless. _I'm going to get nowhere if I continue like this._

He had one more plan, but he really wished he didn't have to use it.

* * *

"Hey, Kinokuni-kun!" Satoshi jogged up to her, taking the heavy folding chair from her hands as he placed it on top of the pile for her. Despite his assistance, she simply scoffed, dismissing his existence to go back to the club room and grab another chair. The two were helping put away the chairs after the meeting for the debate team had finished.

Debate team. Another thing both were involved in but rarely interacted.

"No, wait—" he grabbed her arm to turn her around in the halls.

"What is it now, Isshiki?" Nene rolled her eyes.

Satoshi couldn't help but smile a bit at the accomplishment of finally getting her attention. "The big debate this Friday, are you participating?"

"Yes, why?"

"Oh I see," his eyes crinkled a bit at the news. "I just remembered that your team always defeated mine in group debates."

She adjusted her glasses while her eyes narrowed at the fact, suspicious of what he was insinuating, "So what?"

 _At least she's replying, this is progress._

"Well, I was just wondering if that would still be the case if I had been taking our head-to-heads seriously, you know?" Satoshi taunted.

Maybe Satoshi was a bit of a sadist, finding amusement in seeing her face flush red in anger. Or maybe he was just happy to be getting some sort of reaction out from her normally stoic exterior.

"Hah?" Nene fumed.

"Oh come on, you know how I used to beat you in everything when we were children." He really didn't want to resort to using this tactic, but if he had learned anything from Kuga-kun, it was that the only way to get her attention was to get her _upset._ Not exactly the best foot he wanted to put forward with her, but at least it was a start of some sort. And so far, things were going according to plan.

"Th— The nerve you have! You have absolutely no basis to be making such absurd remarks!"

"But you know it's true," he playfully replied, smirking.

"As if! What a waste of my time! Go kill yourself." She pushed past him without forgetting to send him a glare.

"Don't you want to know? Who the real number one of our class is?" He called to her, observing Nene halt in her movements. Satoshi noticed her balling and shaking fists as well as the stiff posture of her shoulders, but he carried on relaxed, exuding confidence as he issued the challenge. "Would you like me to take this debate seriously for once?"

Nene violently turned around, whipping her pigtails across her shoulders in the process. She paced up to him, stopping right in front of his taller stature to scowl up to his blue eyes.

For all the chances he had in the past, it certainly was terrible timing on his part to be noticing the little things about her, such as how cute she looked when she was upset, or how her eyes looked like fiery rubies when she was irritated.

"I'll prove it to you, who the best student is in the 91st class!" She retaliated.

A half-smile adorned his lips at the remark. "Really?"

"Really!"

"Well then, okay, I'll take the match seriously, but only under one condition," he held up his pointer to her in emphasis.

"What?" she straightened, crossing her arms.

"If I win, I want you to spend the next Saturday with me. I get to choose what we do."

He noticed her face break a bit in confusion at his wager, and for a second he became worried she wouldn't take the offer. But it seemed for once her emotions outweighed her rationality, for her aggressiveness returned just as quickly as it left.

"Fine! I accept!"

* * *

AN: This might be the last chapter I'm posting for the year? I'm not sure yet, depends on if I can finish the next chapter in time! But thank you all for the support and reviews! Enjoy :)


	3. Feelings of Mediocrity

**Betting on Love**

 **Ch. 3: Feelings of Mediocrity**

* * *

"Alright, the last discussion up for debate is…" the advisor paused to flip through the stack of papers, searching for the next event in the program. "Ah, here it is. It is regarding the importance of future innovations versus the adherence to tradition and the contributions of both towards society. Both teams, please make your way up to the podium."

Standing, Satoshi gathered his papers from the desk and readjusted his tie. Following in procession, he led the affirmative team (of mostly his underclassmen) behind the opposition made up of third years, of course, with the exception of Nene.

Taking their respected seats on each side, he couldn't help but glance at the girl who so passionately accepted his challenge. He remembered the flash of fire in her eyes that enamored him — so different from the cold, calculating ones she wore now. He could have really cared less about who was "the best of their generation," or about ranks and winners. Instead, Satoshi found himself more interested in the arguments and points that she'll present.

For as confident and sure he was about the outcome of the debate, he knew Nene was by no means, an opponent to underestimate. She was always eloquent, thoroughly researched and prepared; there was a reason she was the only second year on the upperclassmen team. Her speeches always came off fluid and masterfully crafted, very well supported and practiced; not a single word wasted.

But for all of her technical excellence, she lacked originality and perspective. Regardless of how convincing the argument sounded on paper, it was something Satoshi knew was _too familiar_ for her; so rehearsed and structured. Her views were too narrow, and in most cases, that false sense of perfection worked. But that rigidity of hers almost always prevented Nene from considering the other options — something he happened to be an expert at.

"Isshiki-senpai, is there really a chance we can win this?" Marui asked, nervously adjusting his frames.

"Why do you say that?" Satoshi's eyes crinkled as he smiled. He placed a hand on the freshman's shoulder, "You look so pale, Marui-kun!"

"We are up against the senior team!" He pushed his hand off, "Isshiki-senpai, take this more seriously!" Marui scolded, loud enough to catch Nene's attention from across the stand. Satoshi felt the glaring stare of her on him — the intensity of her desire to beat him. He shifted his gaze to her meet her's and mouthed a "good luck," and much as he expected, she simply ignored his words and turned away in disgust.

Letting his amusement subside, he let out a sigh, "Don't worry, Marui-kun. Let's put up the best fight we can, shall we?"

* * *

"The panel rules four to one in favor of the affirmative!" the head judge declared to the audience, encouraging an outburst of applause and cheers.

"That was amazing, Isshiki-senpai! Your skills are crazy!" Yuuki bursted.

"Yeah, I would have never expected that from a guy who walks around naked in the dorm!"

He made his way to each member of the team, exchanging a mass of high-fives, laughs, and congratulations at their upset victory over the senior team.

"Isshiki-senpai! What the hell was that! Did you decide to wake up for something?" another student teased.

"Yeah! You totally changed your arguments last minute without consulting us!" Ryoko complained.

"Sorry, sorry, Sakaki-kun! But your guys' closing was truly splendid!"

"Mmm… Still!" she pouted, earning jovial laughter from the entire team. They celebrated in the front for quite a while until they began to notice the audience filtering out and the others starting to put away the chairs. As his underclassmen slowly came to the consensus that it was beginning to get late, one by one, each began to gather their things and make their way back to the dorms, of course congratulating Satoshi before they departed.

"Are you sure you don't want to walk back with us, Isshiki-senpai?" Marui asked.

"No, it's fine. I'll stay. Go on back with Yoshino-kun and Sakaki-kun before me!"

He had gotten so caught up with his juniors' reaction to the results that Satoshi had almost forgotten what that result had meant; he won the bet and was now one step closer to his end of the bargain. He didn't get the chance to talk with Nene before she had left, and perhaps it was for the better, he thought. _Should I email her the date details or just tell her during the council meeting next week?_

After he had finished helping the others put away the rest of the chairs and hesitantly declined some of the girls' offer to go to karaoke with them, Satoshi made his way back to the council room in order to gather his things and call it a night.

He relished in the cool darkness of the halls that was normally so full of bustling students. Confident that he was the last one to leave, he even decided he was in high enough spirits to whistle a small tune.

But as he stopped halfway up the stairs, the disembodied yelling echoing from down the hall made it clear that he wasn't alone. _Who is still here?_ Satoshi jokingly played with the idea of ghosts in his head, before he followed the sounds of the voices near the end of the hall.

"—what were you thinking?" He tried to make out the conversation.

"Honestly, so embarrassing losing to a bunch of first years!"

As he got closer, Satoshi's eyes widened, recognizing the two voices as the two lackeys of the senior team's captain, the same senior team that he had just beat. Peering over the corner, he saw the three third years reprimanding… no _bullying_ Nene who had her head downcasted the entire time, silently accepting the harsh insults.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Kinokuni!" the captain's scolding echoed.

"How daring of you for coming with such weak arguments!" it was the feminine voice this time.

Hiding behind the turn of the wall, Satoshi began to ball his fists, shaking in anger at the disparaging comments from the seniors.

"Why don't we just kick her off, Captain? She's useless."

"Yeah, It's her fault we lost! We lost the debate the moment you delivered that crap opening. You were the weakest link to begin with!"

His teeth ground together, clenching his jaw in efforts to keep silent, hoping for the conversation to take a turn or for Nene to stand up for herself and put those nasty students in their place, but it was obvious that it wasn't coming. Call him whatever you want, but insult one of his friends and you've unleashed his wrath. Odd, he briefly reflected; he would haven't thought of Nene was someone he was close with, but regardless he had had _enough_.

"On the contrary, Senpai," Satoshi announced, rounding the corner to approach the four. The three immediately turned their attention to the intruder, followed by Nene who hesitantly lifted her head at the sound of his voice.

"I actually thought that Kinokuni's opening was pretty good. Miles above ours, if I had to be honest," he chortled, stretching his clasped arms behind his back. "Even her claims were really solid, we had a hard time coming up with rebuttals for them. That's why our main one focused on crushing yours instead, Captain," he provoked, looking smugly at the irate third year.

"What was that Isshiki?" he threatened, attempting to intimidate the brunette.

"Don't get cocky just because you won, second-year!"

"I don't believe I'm being very cocky at all, Senpai. In fact, I think that you three are the ones that shouldn't be so arrogant to believe that you weren't the problem," Satoshi smirked. "The reason you look down on Kinokuni-kun is that if you acknowledge her, you'll be accepting the fact that you weren't putting in enough effort yourself. So if you really want to win next time, why don't you stop blaming your teammates and work on your own faults instead."

"Why you little—"

"Captain!" Nene yelled, halting his arm in the air. "I apologize for my performance today. I appreciate your criticism. Please… excuse his insolence."

"Leave him, Captain. If you hit this pretty boy you'll get expelled," the female commented, although Satoshi couldn't tell if it was a warning or a dig at him.

The man looked back from Nene to Satoshi before straightening. "Sheesh, whatever," the captain swore, staring daggers to Satoshi, but he didn't seem to notice, much less care. What he did see was how she held her bag a little closer to her body; how her arm crossed over her body; how her shoulders seemed to shake a bit when the three third years filtered past them.

The two stood in the silence of the empty school building, illuminated by a few dimly lit hallway lights and the moon shining through the large glass panes.

"Kino—" Before he could get a solid word out, she had already begun to pass him by, quickly shuffling her feet down the stairs without acknowledging him.

"Kinokuni-kun!" Satoshi called to her, completely forgetting about his belongings left in the council room. "Are you alright?" He followed her down the stairs and out of the building into the night, jogging to close the distance from her lead. Reaching out, he grabbed her arm to slow her movements to a stop with him behind small frame.

"Kinokuni-kun…" he breathed.

"I won't thank you if that's what you want," she clipped, keeping her back turned towards him.

"Huh?"

"I didn't need you to stand up for me. I had things under control."

"'Under control'?" he repeated in disbelief, "You weren't saying anything. Do they do that often?"

"It's none of your business. Now, let me go."

"No, I won't," his grip tightened, "Why do you put up with them insulting your efforts like that?"

"Why do you care?" Nene scoffed, "You should just be happy that you won your stupid bet. You've made your point, alright?"

He wouldn't let her change the topic, too caught up with the events that previously unfolded for him to fall victim to her snide remarks. "Why do you stay quiet when they taunt you?" he demanded.

Nene struggled to try to free her arm, "It's not taunting, it's constructive criticism," she defended hotly.

"It's ugly jeering, and you know that! Why don't you stand up for yourself?"

"Let me go!"

"Why can't you be more confident and take more pride in the hard work you do?"

Before he could fathom her movements, she spun around to face him, taking her free hand to push him away, loosening his grip on her arm and causing him to stagger back a bit.

"BECAUSE IT'S ALL MEDIOCRE!" she screamed.

Satoshi was taken aback, speechless by the surprising strength of her push; by her uncharacteristic outburst; by the tears pooling in her glassy eyes.

"I don't want to hear this anymore! 'Hard work'? Hard work means nothing to geniuses like you where everything comes easily. So stop acting like you care when all you do is remind me of the difference in our skills! It's only natural for geniuses to win, but for some of us, no matter how hard we try it won't ever amount to anything. I don't need your useless pity and I certainly don't need to be looked down upon by you!" By the time she was finished, Nene was breathing fast and shallowly, her stance stiff and defensive.

They stared at one another for a while, with Nene trying to calm down and Satoshi trying to find the right words to say. He looked down, guilt beginning to flow over him at her words, realizing that he too had been ignoring her feelings — taunting her into the bet.

"Look," she began softly, "Just forget what I said, okay?"

At her voice, he shifted back from his thoughts to her retreating figure. He was astonished at how she could bury her emotions just as quickly as they surfaced in that brief moment; how fast she was able to hide her own turmoil. Maybe it had always been that way, Satoshi reflected. Maybe it's not the fact that she was so unemotional all the time, but rather no one bothered to notice when she was vulnerable.

But for once, he had noticed, and he wasn't going to let it slip. As she turned away from him, he reached out to her hand; the hand that felt so small and delicate against his.

"Wha… What are you—!"

"I never believed your hard work was a waste, nor do I think it amounts to nothing," he stressed. "In fact, ever since we were kids, I always thought you were quite amazing. You saved me."

Her eyes widened in surprise by his statements. "Wh… What do you mean, Isshiki? You're just teasing me again, aren't you?"

"My, my… I meant exactly what I said," he joked a bit, but quickly resumed his earnest tone. "Yeah, I guess you can say I'm a genius if that's what you want to call it, but because of that, for the longest time it felt like I was achieving nothing, you know?" His arm slackened at the memories, but he still held firm onto her hand. He remembered the heavy expectations of his family; the intolerance for anything less than perfection; the lack of praise or reward; the boring, lonely and repetitive days of studying and training.

"That is.. Until I met you. You always did everything with so much dedication and passion, it was _beautiful_. You made me wonder if I too could become a person who found so much joy in polishing one's skills."

He looked down at her hand, now still against his. "I've always deeply respected you."

"Isshiki…" At his words, he felt her body relax, noticing the one stray tear escape and run down her blushed cheeks.

"Kinokuni Nene, you're amazing, okay? Don't think any less."

Before any more tears could fall, she quickly looked away to remove her glasses and wipe her eyes. Pretending to cough, she lifted a hand to cover her face. "Um… You can let go of my hand now."

Suddenly aware of their contact, he swiftly retracted his hand. "Ah, sorry."

"It's fine…" she mumbled, fiddling with her hands together in front of her. "It wasn't— It wasn't very smar— smart of you to talk back to the third years," she stuttered, relaxing him again from his tenseness moments ago. He smiled at her efforts to resume character; he assumes it's his turn to return as well.

"Oh yeah, I guess so," Satoshi admitted, rubbing the nape of his neck, "But you know, I don't regret it."

* * *

AN: Wow, already at chapter three! I hope you guys enjoy! BTW, I totally lied about the last chapter being the last writing piece for the year. I couldn't help myself and decided to go into a turbo writing mode for some reason :)


	4. Red or White?

**Betting on Love**

 **Ch. 4: Red or White?**

* * *

"How in the world did you manage to do that!" Kuga exclaimed, tipping his chair back forward to the brunette. "God, is this the power of good looks?"

Satoshi continued to organize the papers in order, ignoring his friend's outburst and obvious teasing. The two spent their afternoon in the empty council room, finishing up Kuga and his (mostly Kuga's) paperwork that was due that week.

"Kuga-kun, please stop."

"C'mon, Isshiki-chin! This ain't no small feat!" Kuga says getting up from the chair, proceeding to give Satoshi a proud slap on the back. "I guess even little miss Pigtails isn't immune to your charm! See? I told ya this would work."

Satoshi sighed, regretting his decision to tell Kuga about his plans with Nene that weekend. But as much as he wished for him to stay quiet about the whole ordeal, Kuga wasn't technically wrong; getting Nene to agree to hang out with him was definitely no _small_ feat, although he was unsure whether you could call it "agreeing" when in reality it was actually the bet that was forcing her. He at least thanked the heavens for being smart enough to omit that piece of information from Kuga's ears.

"It's not even really a date…" Satoshi reminded absently, uninterested in the blonde's ramblings as he was preoccupied with searching for his misplaced paperclip. "We're just hanging out."

"Hey, hey, hey! Listen here, buddy!" Kuga snatched the stack of ordered papers from Satoshi's grip, waving it around in the air much to his consternation.

"Oi! Kuga-kun!"

"Stop focusing on these stupid papers and start listening to what's important," Kuga lectured, running his fingers through the loose sheets.

"I'm pretty sure finishing these forms is what's important at the moment. We are already behind as is, and you're doing nothing to help."

"You think I'm going to finish those papers? That's what you're here for. Look, date or not, you're making the impossible possible. So why in the world are you so _blasé_ about this whole thing when this is obviously an important step towards your end of the bet?" Kuga badgered pointedly.

Satoshi exhaled at his friend's extreme nosiness, reaching forward lazily in a bad attempt to grab the papers back, but Kuga anticipated better and evaded.

"Man, for the captain of the _kendo_ team, your movement time sucks!"

"Wow, thanks." He sat back down, resting his head on his propped up elbow. "You really aren't going to let up until I talk, huh?"

"Nope!" Kuga grinned, sticking his tongue out mischievously. "Now, shoot already."

"Kuga-kun… is what we are doing alright?" Satoshi asked. The thought weighed on his mind for a while. After the debate and his private talk with Nene, Satoshi began to find himself at a crossroads — unsure whether he should be continuing to use her as a stake in this bet. Despite them just starting to get back to speaking terms again, he felt as if he was betraying what little trust she had in him because of this.

"What do you mean?" Kuga said, blowing a tuft of hair from his face.

"This whole thing with Kinokuni-kun," Satoshi clarified.

"What, you don't want the gym anymore?"

"It's not that, but… aren't we sort of manipulating her? It's not right." _As if he was one to preach that, considering all the deals he has been striking with others recently._

Kuga shrugged in response, taking his seat back on top of the desk, much to the complaint of the table. "What she doesn't know won't harm her," he said, tossing the stack messily back to Satoshi.

Looking down, Satoshi began regathering the pile of papers neatly. "I don't know. We're playing with her feelings…"

"You're not playing! You are just being friendly. It's up to her on how she wants to feel. It's not like you're confessing to her or anything! Your job is to change her opinions about you, not to marry her! Besides, what makes what you are doing now any different than what you do to other girls?"

"I don't intentionally try to make them like me!" Satoshi protested, tapping the papers straight onto the wooden surface.

"Well, they end up liking you anyways! It's the same thing. Stop worrying about things like that and focus on the prize: the gym schedule."

"Yeah, I guess…"

* * *

As he caught sight of her, it dawned on him that this was perhaps the first time (since they were children) he had seen Nene in something other than her school uniform. The dark navy blazers; white button-up dress shirt; striped red tie and a plaid skirt — always in immaculate condition and in line with the school dress code. Satoshi wasn't quite sure _what_ he was expecting, it was a Saturday after all and they weren't at the academy for once, but at the public town square located near the school — a hot spot for couples.

Jogging to meet up with her halfway, he offered her a smile and a small wave.

"You're going to trip. The ground's uneven, you idiot," Nene deadpanned.

Satoshi found amusement in Nene's "greeting", unsure whether she was worried about him or insulting him. "I'll keep that in mind," he chuckled. "Hi."

"Sorry, am I late?" Nene brought up her wrist to check the time.

"Oh, don't worry. You're early," Satoshi assured. "You look really nice."

It wasn't as if her wardrobe was anything really spectacular: a loose, cream-colored shirt-dress that ended just at her knees with the buttons buttoned all the way up to the collar; simple brown flats and a small, matching crossbody purse that spanned across her chest. Nene's hair was up in her usual pigtails but instead were kept unbraided for a change. If he had to describe it, she looked cute… _really cute_.

She looked down at her outfit, pulling a bit at the skirt, flaring it out in front of her as if she was unaware she was even wearing a dress.

"Thanks…" she drew out the ending "s", sounding unsure as to how she should reply to his compliment. "It's nothing all that special. I wasn't sure what we were doing, so I tried to dress more casual." Looking up to him while re-adjusting her glasses, he noticed her scanning his clothes, which consisted of a simple white button up and jeans. "I guess I judged this event appropriately," she added later.

"Well, I didn't really have a plan. I guess we can just do whatever we feel like," Satoshi admitted, carding a hand through his hair. "I'm just surprised you came at all, to be honest."

"What do you take me for? I always keep my end of the deal, no matter how painful it is," she retorted.

He couldn't help but laugh at how down-to-business Nene was even at times like this, finding her mild insults sort of charming, actually.

The two kept walking quietly through the shopping district, as either had yet to strike up a conversation with one another. Satoshi noted how out of place and awkward they looked together in the streets full of affectionate couples holding hands. Despite the progress he was making with Nene, Satoshi couldn't imagine the two of them ever being like that regardless of what the bet implied. _Correction, he never believed Nene would ever go that far with him._

From the corner of his eye, he noticed her glance up to him every now and then, studying him for some reason unknown; waiting for an opportunity to say something or maybe she was simply pondering thoughts like he was. He turned to meet her gaze and for the split second their eyes met before she averted, her eyes widened enough for Satoshi to see his reflection in her clear orbs.

"Yes? Is something wrong?" he tilted his head towards her.

"Wha— Nothing…"

"Is there something on my face, Kinokuni-kun?" Satoshi sang, teasingly.

"No! It's nothing! Where— Where are we going?" Nene protested, changing the topic.

Satoshi looked around at the row of shops and restaurants, trying to find something they could potentially do instead of walking around all day. "Do you want to get something to eat?"

* * *

The two sat on the table beside the large glass window, letting the soft natural light illuminate them in comfortable warmth. The small cafe was relatively empty and quiet, leaving the couple purely in each other's company.

Satoshi intently watched Nene pour the packets of sugar and cream into her coffee, stirring it diligently into the black liquid, forming smooth swirls.

"What is it?" she questioned.

"I didn't know you liked your coffee so sweet," Satoshi explained, distracted by his discovery. "It's kind of cute."

He heard the loud clank of her spoon against the inside of the cup as she perked up in shock. "I— I just don't really care for coffee that much. I mean I can drink it plain if I wanted to, I'm not a kid! It's just too bitter and… and—"

Satoshi couldn't suppress his laughter at her flustered protest and blushed face.

"Geez, stop teasing me!" she complained.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He opened his palms to her to settle her down. Her uptight shoulders slackened but she still wore an unamused pout as she crossed her arms to herself.

"You're always like that," Nene mumbled, annoyed.

"Oh come on, Kinokuni-kun. I'm sorry." He lowered his head a bit to catch her downcast eyes. Holding out his plate of doughnuts to her, he urged it towards her. "Here, take one." Moving from the plate to his face, she frowned at him.

"It's my apology. Come on, they're good," he smiled.

Slowly, he saw her untangle her arms and raise her hand carefully to grab the top doughnut from the plate, taking a small bite of it.

"See? It's good right?"

Placing the plate back on the table, he brought up his own coffee and took a sip. "I never thought I would be much of a coffee person either, but the taste grew on me, I guess." Satoshi cupped the mug in his hands, relishing in the signature roasted aroma before he continued, "I remember your mom brewed a cup for your father and her every morning." He closed his eyes at the memory, remember how he always thought it was peculiar for a family so rooted in Japanese tradition to drink coffee in the mornings instead of tea. The strong smell always tickled his nose while Nene and him got ready for school. The mysterious black liquid piqued his interests as a child where he was normally limited to only tea, water, or juice.

"The adults made it seem so good, but when you taste it for the first time it's incredibly bitter, huh?"

Her gaze focused on the cup, absentmindedly swirling the spoon as she trailed off at the same memory. "I'm surprised you remember things like that."

"I remember a lot of things," he stated. "My time at your house was very important to me."

"Remembering things, huh?" he heard her mumble to herself.

"What was that?"

"Huh?" she recovered, realizing she had said that aloud.

"What did you remember?"

"Oh uh… I just thought… It was your birthday two weeks ago."

"Yeah! You remembered!" he excitedly confirmed.

"What? Don't act surprised that I remembered! You're not the only one that can recall things!" Nene huffed, embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't get you anything," she added.

Resting his chin on his propped elbow, he stared at her in awe. "It's fine, this is a nice belated-present."

* * *

She held the coffee cup inches from her face for minutes, but she failed to bring it any closer in efforts to actually drink from it, pausing mid-drink to turn her attention away. The mug rested snuggly in her hands as her elbows bent on the wooden cafe table. Although Satoshi focused on her, something else seemed to have caught her eye out the window.

"Kinokuni-kun? Hey, Kinokuni-kun~" Satoshi called.

"Huh?" Nene returned from her trance, shifting her sight back to the brunette. "Sorry, I got distracted."

It was a rare occasion to see Kinokuni Nene so absent-minded. Curious, he turned to see what enamored her to that extent.

"I didn't know there was a flower shop here," she clarified, watching the same woman in the distance watering the plants as he was.

"Mm, I think it opened a month ago. Do you want to take a look?"

Her eyebrows raised toward him, studying whether he really meant the offer, carefully crafting her response to test the waters. "Do you mind?"

"No of course not!" He smiled. "Let's go."

After the two asked for the check (separate of course, Nene wouldn't let him pay for her) and paid, they left the small cafe and made their way to the flower shop across the street. For once he didn't need to lead her; she took full charge ahead of him, eager to see the collection.

For his age, Satoshi was pretty well versed in plants, seeing that he was the one who managed the garden in the back of the dorm. He also happened to be really good at growing them as well; vegetables, fruits, herbs — you name it. However, flowers were never a territory he really bothered to explore, but they intrigued him either way.

"These are cosmos," she pointed to the pink and purple flowers. "Oh, and here are violets too."

He smiled at the slight liveliness in her voice; the lightness in her steps; the way her eyes glimmered when she opened them after smelling the sweet scents. "I didn't know you liked flowers."

"I learned a lot when I used to take _ikebana_ lessons."

"I see," he nodded, remembering the sessions when he sat in with her as children; snipping stems, bundling flowers and arranging them into living sculptures. It was an art that really did seem to suit Nene, but then again, she seemed to have no problem finding interests in a variety of skills. But it made him a bit more comfortable to be able to learn more about her than what she presented in school.

Satoshi followed her lead through the rest of the shop, listening to the names of each of the flowers she decided to point out to him.

"What's your favorite?" he asked curiously.

She turned to him, surprised by his interest in her hobby, "Camellias."

"Camellias? Really?" he repeated, searching the shop for the familiar white, pink and red concentric petals. "Oh, over there!" Making his way to the corner, she followed stopping just short behind him before he turned around to hand her a red one. "Here, I'll get one for you!" he offered the stemmed flower towards her.

Firstly, he noticed the fact that she wasn't taking the flower. Secondly, her face turned extremely red.

"Wha— What? It's fine! I didn't ask for one!" she exclaimed, pushing his hand away from her.

"But you said you liked them, right?"

"That's not the point!"

"What? Why?" he pressed.

"You don't just give someone a flower like that, you idiot!"

He tilted his head in confusion, still not understanding what she was being so modest about. _It was just a flower…_

"You're supposed to give red camellias to someone you love," she turned away, obviously uncomfortable talking about the concept of love with her sworn rival. _Maybe even Nene isn't numb to those kinds of feelings, huh?_

"Oh," he said in realization, feeling quite flushed himself despite knowing his intentions for bringing her on that date. "What are the white ones?" he turned around to grab the flower next in line, trying his best to recover the situation. "What do these mean?"

"You give those to someone you like," she mumbled.

"Alright, I'll get you this!"

"What?" her eyes widened in surprise as he passed her to the register.

Caught by her shock he turned back to face her, "I like you," he shrugged nonchalantly, "Aren't we friends?"

He saw her eyes shift, calming down a bit at his added on statement. "Oh, that's what you meant, you idiot. We aren't friends either..." she said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Once the florist finished wrapping the flower, he handed it to Nene, "Here."

"You didn't have to," she grumbled, holding the flower to her nose to smell the light fragrance.

As the sun slowly started to set, the two walked back to the square under the orange sky. Satoshi watched as Nene twirled the stem of the flower between her thumb and forefinger, looking down to trace the delicate petals with her hand, and he could have sworn for a second he saw a slight smile on the corner of her lips.

Looking away, he glanced at his watch. _4:21, wow time passed quickly_. Continuing to walk forward he asked, "Hey, do you want to start headin—"

He didn't get to finish his question when he heard a slight feminine yelp and a thud shortly afterward. Quickly, he whipped his head back to her direction, seeing the flower resting on the concrete with Nene on the ground close by.

"Are you alright?" he exclaimed, rushing to help her up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she repeated, shrugging his hand off.

"You're the one that told me the ground was uneven," he teased slightly as she dusted the gravel off her dress. "Can you walk?"

"I said I was fine!" she retorted. She was resting all her weight on her right leg, bending her left leg slightly while the blood from the gash on her knee ran down slowly. "Great," Nene huffed.

Watching her carefully, Nene tried to stand on the leg, but it was clear from the wince on her face that she was in pain.

"You're not walking," he announced, and before she could protest he reached down to literally sweep her off of her feet, carrying her in his arms bridal style — attracting quite a bit of attention in the process.

"Hey! Let me down!" she yelled, squirming in his grasp. "Let me go, you idiot! What the hell do you think you're doing! Let me—"

"If you keep moving, I'll drop you," he mildly threatened with a smile, not in welcome but warning.

She looked down in embarrassment refusing to meet his face that was so close to hers, fiddling with the fabric of her dress instead. "Can you at least pick up the flower?" she muttered.

"Huh?" he stopped looking back, "Why? It's all smushed."

"Because you bought it for me."

* * *

He walked the stairs up to the second level of her dormitory, trying his absolute best to not think about the sensation of her arm around his neck or his hand on her torso.

"Which room?" he asked, clearing his throat.

"206," she recited the numbers.

"Oh wow, you have the same room number as me," he remarked. "Can you get out your key?"

"Hah!" she exclaimed at his request, "You are NOT going inside."

"I don't think now is a very good time to be modest, Kinokuni-kun."

"I don't care!" she retaliated. "Isshiki! Let me down, I can handle myself from here. Hurry up before someone comes," she warned, looking around cautiously for any incoming dormmates.

"No, I won't. So open the door."

"Why should I!"

He sighed at how stubborn she could be. _It's just a room for god sakes, let's move past these pleasantries already. We used to sleep in the same room as children if you don't remember!_

"Please? This happened on my request," Satoshi looked her in the eyes, "so at least let me take some sort of responsibility and make sure you are alright."

He held his stare with her glaring eyes until she closed them, exhaling in sound annoyance. Grabbing her purse, she fished out her keys to open the door for him to enter.

The first notable (or rather unnotable) thing that he noticed was how relatively plain her room was, so he didn't understand what she was so intent on hiding. Simple white sheets; some stack of papers on the wooden desk with a wire cup holder and some pens inside; her school uniform hanging on the dresser. Nothing really out of the ordinary; it was as neat and clean as he expected.

He placed her down on the edge of the bed, asking her for where she kept her first aid kit. Nene pointed to the cabinet beside her desk. Walking over, he grabbed the clear, plastic box holding a nice array of bandages, gauze, and disinfectant wipes, in the process observing her desk full of council memos stuck on the table, as well as the four or five calendars hanging on the wall. Pausing for a bit, he saw the Saturday starred on one of the calendars with "that idiot, 1:00" beside it. Satoshi smiled at the small piece he owned of her busy schedule.

Returning back to the bedside, he kneeled down to begin cleaning the cut, fighting for a second over her leg that she kept pulling back from his hold. The room grew silent between them as he concentrated on his task and she crossed her arms looking away.

"Why did you make this wager?" she whispered, breaking the quiet.

His hands halted at her voice, which held more curiosity rather than accusal. Satoshi looked up to her ruby eyes focused on him.

"Hm, I just felt like it," Satoshi smile towards her.

"Hah," she scoffed lightly, finding amusement in his laid-back response. "It's as if you don't have hoards of girls who wouldn't die to spend a day with you. What? Was no one else available this weekend?"

"No," his eyes furrowed at her comment, signaling his sincerity towards her. "I just wanted to spend time with you."

He turned his attention back to the first aid, a bit disheartened by her lack of response. "Sorry," he apologized. "I know you probably didn't want to spend your weekend with me." he laughed slightly.

.

.

.

"I had fun."

His head snapped up to her, surprised. At the eye contact, she looked away, trying her best to resume her stoic demeanor. Satoshi smiled a little as he noticed how red her ears were becoming, but he decided to keep that detail to himself or else Nene would kill him.

But something fluttered inside him, happy to hear they felt the same way for once.

* * *

AN: Happy New Years everyone! I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read my works thus far and I hope you keep enjoying them in the future. Just a warning, it's probably going to be a while till I update this fic again (maybe a month?) because the story I'm currently working on for HdySL is like almost over 10K words... So yeah, it's a really long one that I've been struggling with to finish. Hopefully, I'll be able to publish it by this weekend(?) so look out for that.

With that said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to review, I always appreciate the criticism and recommendations!


	5. The Afterschoolers

**Betting on Love**

 **Ch. 5: The Afterschoolers**

* * *

He didn't expect anyone to still be around. Maybe if he did, he would have worn his clothes properly.

After all, it was well past closing with most of the students and teachers gone to enjoy their weekend at home or with friends. With that in mind, Satoshi found no problems with walking through the empty halls of the school with his _gi_ completely open, exposing his sweaty, bare chest. He blamed the incoming summer heat for his lack of affinity towards clothing, but the simple truth was that he didn't have time to change out of uniform.

Satoshi was sure his childhood instructor back home would have slapped him senseless if he saw him at the moment. It has always been a cardinal rule of any martial artist to treat the world around them with immense respect: the _dojo_ , the opponent and instructor, the equipment, and most certainly the uniforms. Every proper tie and knot of the _kendogi_ had been drilled into the boy's head since the age of four. But the fact of the matter was, no one was here, and he had other business to attend to.

The cool air conditioning felt good against his skin. Resting a towel against the base of his neck, Satoshi readjusted his gym bag over his shoulders as he approached the classroom. The junior had forgotten his calculus notebook on his desk (again), and with quarter assignments being due the following week, he'd rather deal with the soaked _hakama_ and _gi_ than to have the janitor lock the room before he could get to it.

It didn't seem like he had to worry about that anymore, though.

He noticed the door was lit and slightly ajar; signs of a fellow afterschooler. But rather than worry about his current half-naked state, he found it more troubling that he didn't even need to guess who was inside.

Slowly, he slid open the door, meeting her figure first — bent over stacks of papers and highlighters, catching her in what seemed to be the ending half of an adorable yawn. As if that was the only break she would allow herself, Nene went right back to counting, marking, and sorting the council agenda. So engrossed in her work, she had failed to notice Satoshi's presence until his greeting.

"Yo, Kinokuni-kun!" Whatever fatigue, whatever complaint of practice going overtime, whatever memory of the hot and stuffy gym seemed to have faded away.

Nene's head whipped toward the door in surprise as she was unexpecting of visitors. Let alone a naked one at that.

"Wha— PUT ON YOUR CLOTHES PROPERLY, YOU PERVERT!" she exclaimed with pink cheeks and shielded eyes.

He couldn't help but laugh at her response as he noted his own attire, or the lack thereof. "Good evening to you too, Kinokuni-kun," he grinned, tying his uniform properly closed in the process. The green-haired girl averted eye contact with his sky-blue eyes as he pulled out a chair beside her, inquiring if she needed any help.

"No thanks," refused Nene.

"Come on, let me do something." He reached over to grab the stapler in front of her, only to be met with her hand settling it back down.

"Just do whatever you came here for and leave. Aren't you tired? Just go home already."

"I could say the same for you. We can get this done faster if we work together."

Satoshi smiled gently at the scoff he roused from her. "I can probably get this done faster by myself than with you." Despite the harshness of her words, he noted a hint of playfulness in her challenge as she released the stapler.

"Let's hope not, or you'll be stuck with me for a while," he teased.

In the awkward silence of the two, the snap of each staple and scratching sound of pens filled the air. But amidst all the thoughts that plagued his concentration on the task, other matters weighed his mind.

"You know, I'm your VP," he started. "You don't have to do all of this by yourself. I'm here if you need any help." He had known that she would sometimes stay back after school, _but he never imagined this late_ ; late enough for him to notice the set of keys besides her bottled tea, signaling that _she_ was the one that closed up, not the janitor. The thought panged his heart a bit, realizing how much of the work she takes on by herself; the number of hours she spends alone.

"I'm fine," Nene brushed off his offer. "I didn't have calligraphy today so I was free anyway."

The brunette looked upon her calm features, impressed by her nonchalance at the amount of work she puts into her position as president. _How many afternoons does she spend here? How many hours does she invest?_ Questions of the sort crossed his mind.

"The class should appreciate that they have such a great president," he complimented.

"Oh please," she sighed at his praised, "we both know the only reason I have this position is because you decided not to run. You could have easily won if you tried."

Pondering her statement for a bit, he offered the girl a shrugged "maybe," much to her surprise. "But who knows? I'm sure you wouldn't have let me take it that easily," he supplemented with a smile. Nene couldn't help but roll her eyes, scolding him to stop stalling and resume his work. But despite her apparent dislike for side conversations, Satoshi found himself engaged in another, this time, started by her.

"Tha… Thanks for carrying me back the other day. I didn't think I could be so clumsy," her expression softened.

"No problem. I'm glad you're alright. It reminded me a bit when we were kids; you used to trip over your _geta_ all the time, remember?" he laughed, reminiscing.

"Wha— WHAT!" she exclaimed, face red with embarrassment. "Stop making things up!"

* * *

To his surprise, she takes him up on his offer. It started with simple matters at first. Whenever he didn't have _kendo_ or debate practice and whenever she was free from her afterschool obligations, he found himself spending his afternoons with the girl, sorting the agenda, signing off on facility logistics, or simply stapling assembly handouts.

But as time went on, it became routine for him to visit even when there were no council matters to discuss. He had quickly come to learn that if she wasn't in the library, she was there, working on homework or debate prep in her free time. Sometimes, when his company was approved, she would even ask him for his advice on her arguments, or help with her chemistry work.

Satoshi noted how she became more receiving towards him, and how he grew more comfortable in her presence. How different it was to hold an actual conversation with her; how kind and warm she really was. He had grown accustomed to their "unplanned" afterschool sessions, and he wondered if she had as well.

On his way back from _kendo_ practice, he couldn't help the smile that beamed his face when he saw his own bottle of tea waiting for him on the table beside her; fresh and cold like she had just gotten it from the vending machine down the hall.

"Is this for me?" he asked pointing to the bottle, full knowing that he would get nothing but an eye roll in response. "Thanks."

It was the little stuff like that that made Isshiki question what he actually knew about Nene. He remembered their younger days; a girl full of so much vibrancy and confidence. Perhaps that side of her was never really lost, but just muffled behind a cold mask. Satoshi couldn't understand why her eyes laid so hostile towards others, but even more so, he didn't understand how he himself was fooled by her facade.

"What are you looking at?" Nene's eyes narrowed as she caught him staring at her.

"Why do you act so cold to others?" he outright asked.

"Huh?"

"Why do you distance yourself from others?" _Why did you distance yourself from me?_

Nene straightened at his questions, preparing what Satoshi guess was an onslaught of insults his way. However, no words came past her lips. Her body relaxed as she understood the sincerity behind his questions. Her eyes darted away from his, focusing instead on the equations in front of her while she pondered her answers, knowing that nothing but the truth would satisfy him.

"It's easier to focus without the distractions," she finally admitted.

Satoshi nodded, expecting that answer more or less. Leaning back in the squeaky desk chairs, lonely memories flooded to him at her words. Endless studying and lessons where he was the only student, scary tutors who did nothing but yell at him, and big, red test scores that all but defined him. Closing his eyes at those flashbacks, he couldn't fathom how emotionless he was, how he used to spend his days so cut and dry, and it reminded him a lot of her now.

"Is being the best that important to you?" he asked quietly.

He heard her audible sigh, but she kept her face towards the papers in front of her. "Isshiki, I don't know how you think this world functions, but people only care about the results. It may be easy for you to think that my goals are stupid because it's something obtainable for you." She paused for a second, in where he noticed a part of her concede to the words she spoke. "All I'm able to do is read books and study," she mumbled.

"I don't care about the results," he defends sternly, catching her attention towards him. "I care about you."

He knew the last thing that Nene was searching for would have been pity, and rather than that, Satoshi couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness at how easily she spoke such words; how easily she believed them to be the truth. "I think it's admirable to have goals like that, but I wish you could see that you have so much more to offer as a person than what you just read in books." _Like what you did for me. You saved me._

They freeze for a moment as she takes in his words. But before he could say much else, she quickly turns back to the desk, awkwardly shuffling the stacks together and capping the pens, claiming it was getting late and that they should start to wrap things up.

Despite his desire to continue their conversation, he lets their talk settle, deciding he pushed her enough today. The two close up the classroom, and as they take their separate turns down the hall, he calls to her.

"Kinokuni-kun!" he yells, causing her to pause and turn. "The _kendo_ team is doing some exhibition matches in the gym at noon this Saturday. I was wondering if you wanted to come and watch."

She blinks at him, unsure of what to think of his invitation. "Uh, I'll check my schedule." Quickly, she turns away, hurriedly walking.

"So, you'll be there?" he asks once again with a smile.

She pauses and he notices her clutching her books ever tighter towards her chest.

"Yes," she announces without ever looking back.

* * *

"What is this about?" he inquires rather loudly. He would have expected the rooftop to be a little quieter, but the wind was really kicking up and the loud students on lunch break below weren't helping. He watched the redhead turn around and lean daringly against the railing, lazily taking a bite out of the chocolate bar she was holding.

"Isshiki, I wanted to thank you for helping out with council stuff lately. Our efficiency has been crazy ever since you started to get more involved!"

Satoshi's eyebrows raised at her words. Rindou wasn't ever one to care about council matters, throwing all the work to Tsukasa-senpai instead.

She licked the rest of the melted chocolate off her lips, sighing as she noticed his suspicions. "But I guess what I called you here for is to ask you why you started to care about such things?" She eyed him, golden yellow to his blue.

"I'm a council member," he shrugged back to her, playing her game of ignorance just as well as she was. "I should care about such things, shouldn't I?" he chuckled.

"Isshiki, come on!" she pouted. "You know what I'm talking about!"

"What are you talking about?" he played.

"Ne- Ne!" Rindou called her name, giving in to her own game a lot more quickly than he thought she would. "I'm talking about Nene!"

At the mention of her name, the brunette matched his gaze with the senior. "What about her?"

Rindou turned back around to face the railing with a huff in her breath. She played with the aluminum wrapper of the candy bar, watching the little ants of students below walk around with leisure. "What are your intentions with her?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"You know how important your juniors are to you. I'm the same way. I've worked with her enough to know how she really is and I have a feeling you have an idea as well. Now, I'll ask you again. What are you're intentions with her?"

Whether it was intentional or not, he felt slightly cornered by the directness of her question. But perhaps his uneasiness stemmed more from the fact that he wasn't sure of his own answer. Satoshi remembered his bet with Kuga-kun, and for the first time, he had considered if it wasn't Nene that was developing romantic feelings, but rather him instead.

"I… don't know," he admitted.

Nodding, she sighs at his response. "Let me tell you something, VP to VP." He watches her get up off the railing, facing him in all seriousness. "She may act tough, but she's still human. Her emotions are fragile. I don't think she herself realizes what's happening between you two, but I want you to be aware of how much of her trust you have. I guess what I'm trying to say is, regardless of what's happening, be careful with her heart. Please?"

* * *

AN: Yay! I had a day off so I had time to actually write stuff. Sorry if the chapter seems a bit… rushed because… it sort of was hehe. This story is sort of on a slow burn at the moment. But amidst all this fluff, don't worry, the drama is coming (dun dun DUN!) Oh yeah, btw _kendo_ is a really interesting sport. I had to do a lot of research but it's pretty cool if you ever check it out!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please feel free to review, I always appreciate the criticism and recommendations!


	6. Fitting Names

**Betting on Love**

 **Ch. 6: Fitting Names**

AN: Definition of Japanese words at the bottom :)

* * *

Prior to this, Nene really didn't have a reason to step inside the school gym. If it wasn't for a school assembly or P.E. class, she would much rather spend her time in the council room or library. But as of late, Nene's been finding herself out of her norm due to a certain flamboyant brunette.

The girl didn't understand why a part of her wanted to attend when she had piles of paperwork to do and pages of textbooks to read. Nothing was forcing her to come, and as much as she would like to complain about the fact that Isshiki stole another one of her precious days off, he really hadn't. It was an invitation, and she accepted. Maybe she was just tired of studying. Maybe she was curious about the activities he chose to invest his time in. Or maybe, she simply just wanted to support him — as a classmate, _a friend?_

Is that what he was? Is that what they were?

She didn't realize that the _kendo_ team garnered such a crowd. Even if it was just a school exhibition event, most of the seats were filled with students from all grades. By the time she arrived, most of the matches for the beginners had finished, with the more skilled members competing in the ones currently in progress. It was all very loud from what she was expecting; from the cheers of the females in the audience to the calls of the players and sharp snaps of the _shinai_ , Nene watched it all from the side of the gym, leaning against the wall of the exit.

"Kinokuni-senpai?" she heard a voice from her right call. Nene turned suddenly at the surprise, as she was too dialed into the minute movements and details of _kendo_.

"Ah, Yukihira Soma." Nene straightened to the red-haired underclassman.

"What are you doing standing here? Come, you can sit with us!"

"No thanks, I'd rather not—"

"Don't worry, we have plenty of space," Soma insisted, ushering Nene away from the wall and into the gym court. Despite her protests, he didn't seem to mind as he led her through the crowd to the middle of the stands where his friends sat.

"Yukihira! You missed like three matches!" Ikumi scolded.

"Sorry, sorry! The line for the restroom was _super_ long! But anyway, look who I found!" Soma introduced Nene with an awkward push and stumble at her expense. Nene wanted to feel irritated, but it flabbergasted her how casual an underclassman was with her: a complete stranger! _No wonder these are Isshiki's friends._ With a shallow bow, the pigtailed girl took her seat on the edge of the bench, trying her best to ignore the surprised head nods of the others at her unexpected entrance.

"Kinokuni-senpai? There is no need to be uncomfortable," Megumi leaned over to her and smiled.

"I— I'm fine!" Nene defended, "I just don't attend things like this very often."

Nene didn't know much about Tadokoro Megumi, but she had garnered a reputation as the sweetheart of the first years. But even still, it surprised her that she extended a welcome, considering most of the underclassmen were afraid of the council members.

"I'm glad you came, though! Isshiki-senpai seemed really excited to have you watch!"

Unsure of how to respond to that, Nene simple nodded her head in acknowledgment, pondering the bluenette's words.

"Who's competing now?" Yukihira spoke up.

"Aldini-kun and Ibusaki-kun," Hisako responded. So caught up with the suddenness of it all, Nene had failed to notice the presence of two rather unexpected students.

"Nakiri-san," she said, "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I guess the same could be said for you too, Kinokuni-senpai. The girls wanted to watch so I thought I would come as well," the heiress huffed, pushing a strand of her honey-colored hair over her shoulder. "What brings you here?"

It was an unexpected question, much less one she wanted to answer. Nene realized she really only had one reason to be there: Isshiki. But much to her consternation, it wasn't something she wanted to admit, much less to Nakiri Erina.

"I— um." Before she could continue, the signal from the match official called the end of the five minutes. Looking to the score, the audience noted the tie between the two first years with the same scores on the board. In the following seconds, each of the three referees held up their red flags in Ibusaki's favor. The two freshmen bowed as the match concluded and the crowd cheered.

"What just happened? They got the same score," Soma pointed out.

"Yukihira, if you just learned the rules—"

" _Shikake waza_ ," Nene said quietly, interrupting Ikumi in her chastisement. She didn't bother to look away from the match as the group hushed at her comment. As she followed Takumi and Shun back to the side benches, Nene had found Isshiki offer his subtle laugh and a high-five to the competitors. It was odd to finally see him in uniform at an appropriate place and time for she only saw him after practices.

"Shikaki what?"

" _Shikake waza,"_ Nene repeated, turning her attention back to the group. "Ibusaki-san favors _harai waza_ , a type of offensive _shikake waza_. Because the match ended in a tie, the official determines the outcome based on technique. So, Ibusaki's offensive _shikake waza_ was stronger than Aldini's defensive _oji waza_."

Despite her comment being directed towards Soma, it seemed her explanation reached the entirety of the group as they all nodded in understanding. "Wow, Kinokuni-senpai! I didn't know you were a such a _kendo_ fan!" the redhead cheered.

"I'm not! It's just the basics! Why are you all at a _kendo_ match if you don't know the rules?" Nene scoffed.

"Why do you know them then?"

"It's expected of her," Erina chimed in, garnering their attention. "The Kinokuni family has been an upholder of cultural practices for generations, no?"

"Just as it is expected of you to be well informed, Nakiri-san," Nene returned the comment. "I just took some simple lessons, that's all."

As their conversation began to wrap up, the stage was being set for the next match: the final one of the afternoon. Her ruby eyes drifted towards the scoreboard, looking to see who ultimately would close out the event.

"You think Ibusaki has a chance against Isshiki-senpai?" Yuuki asked.

"No way!"

"Why? Ibusaki's pretty good too."

"He is, but is he _captain-good?_ Or _third dan-good_? Isshiki's a top competitor nationally, let alone for our school," Marui asserted.

The crowd quieted down as the officials and the two students moved onto the gym floors; they didn't even need to hear the match call to know something was about to go down for the tension grew thick in the air. As Ibusaki and Isshiki took their bows, they moved into their stance and crossed _shinai_. Just like the athletes, no one made a move as they all completely focused on the intensity of the match.

With an open palm, the official started the match just as quickly as it was over. The audience hesitated to clap, barely recognizing that Satoshi has won with a 2-0 against Ibusaki. It had taken Nene by surprise to see the precision and speed of his strikes. She admired how clean and elegant he was in movement — expending no extra effort than needed. It seemed the sword was a mere extension of his arms; something he had complete control over. His stance was incredibly solid and planted, but he remained lithe as ever. So much so, she recognized Ibusaki's weight shift to his back foot in defense; completely dominated by Satoshi's aggressive discipline. It was in those moments that Nene wondered what he was thinking; what his eyes looked like behind the mask when he sees his opportunity open.

Anyone could recognize he was well trained and accomplished, and as much as she would deny it, Nene's heart would begin to quicken as she watched him in action. But at the same time, only she could recognize how little of his actual talents he was using. She saw him twist his wrists voluntarily, leaving his shoulders open. She saw plenty of times he could have attacked but instead decided to simply defend. Despite all his genius, those were beginner mistakes he _chose_ to make. It didn't surprise Nene in the least to see him do that, and it disappointed her a bit to see him do so. But it made her even more curious to figure out just how brightly he could burn.

She follows the group of first years down to the reception of all the members, silently standing to the side as she watches him accept the congratulations, albeit sweatily and tired, but nonetheless cheerfully. Amongst the group, his smiling eyes meet hers as he pushes his matted bangs from his forehead. Quickly saying his thanks towards his junior, Satoshi excused himself to meet his guest.

"So, what did you think?" he greeted her happily.

He follows her movements now as he watches her fold her arms, crafting an answer. "It was a very… _impressive_ match," she managed to muster. "You improved a lot since we were children."

Those 'simple lessons' Nene had remembered during the match had actually been _his_ lessons that she had joined out of spite. Those beginner mistakes he mimicked were the very same ones _she_ would make.

"Thanks," Satoshi laughed, "Well, we all have our hobbies, right? Imagine if you continued!"

"You know I never had the knack for things like this."

"Mm, you've always enjoyed the music and art lessons better," he hums in agreement, placing the towel back around his neck. "Hey, since I showed you what I do, you should show me some of your calligraphy. I'm sure it's beautiful."

"You're the one that asked me to come here. Don't get things mixed up like I owe you a favor," Nene complained, shifting her eyes in a way Satoshi didn't fail to notice.

"Maybe, I'll show you."

* * *

It is yet another afternoon that Satoshi finds himself in a school classroom. However, it wasn't for council work or debate prep, but a calligraphy lesson. Sitting on the rolled out tatami mat, he watches the focused girl beside him, leaned over the blank, rice paper canvas as she marks it jet black with her art. She lets her hand run through the motions — the strokes — loosen her wrist and pressure. He notices a glimmer in her eyes; the same sparkle he would find whenever she worked on a particularly hard chemistry problem, or when she would draft opening statements and claims. A look of challenge. Of concentration. Of interest.

"Your handwriting is so beautiful."

Nene returns the brush back down to the holder, straightening at the flick of the last stroke. "It's just simple movements, nothing really to marvel at." She releases the _Hanshi_ paper from its holder and replaces it with a new piece for practice. "What would you like me to write?"

"Anything?" he raises his eyebrows.

"I guess."

"Hm, what about my name?" Satoshi suggests. He watches her blink, processing the _kanji_ characters in her head. With her fingers, she mindlessly traces the outline of his name in the air and he smiles at how meticulous she is with her art.

Each of her strokes are long and languid against the paper. Slowly as lines turned into characters, and eventually his name, he watched as she paused in between, taking special consideration for every move and flow of the ink. Finishing, her back straightens. "To be wise…" Nene mumbles to herself.

"What?" Satoshi asks.

"No, your name. It means wisdom," she clarifies. "It's a fitting name.' His eyes follow her as she studies the paper, taking time to study the lips were his name hung unspoken. Reaching over to take the brush from her grasp, Satoshi asks in silent approval to which she grants with a hesitant nod. Adjusting the _fude_ in his hand, he shifts over to the paper and stains it with her name as well.

"It means tranquil, right?" he asks, midstroke.

"Uh, yeah…"

"I guess I'm not the only one with a fitting name." Her eyes narrow in confusion at his meaning but he smiles slightly, finishing the last lines. With softened eyes, his voices follows with her name.

"Nene…" he calls, not sure if he is addressing the words he had written or his childhood love beside him. "Whenever I'm with you, I can't help but feel at ease." Satoshi's blue eyes meet her wide ones. Amidst the golden glow of the summer sun through dusty windows, all he could help but focus on was the intermix of their shallow breathing and the brush of their knees against one another. Hands unconsciously find her shoulders, gripping them slightly as he grew more and more lost within the depths of her ruby orbs; lost within the floral scent of her perfume that invited him closer; lost within the two syllables of her name on repeat in his head.

Closing the distance, he expects his lips to meet hers but doesn't find them. Instead, he hears the sharp intake of her breath and feels a slight push of his arms from her body. Opening his eyes, he finds the space between the both of them to have increased, along with the redness of her face. Blinking at her stunned expression, Satoshi leans back — straightening, letting the awkward silence between the both of them brew.

"Um—" he begins bravely.

"I— uh… I'm going to um… get more brushes," Nene interrupts, getting up hurriedly and flustered before shuffling out of the room, leaving Satoshi to his own thoughts.

A hand flies up to his forehead as he realizes what had just happened. He finds the brush lying haphazardly against the paper, pooling a small puddle of ink in the process. Picking it up, he places it neatly back on its holder alongside both of their names.

"Kinokuni Nene," Satoshi read the characters out loud. _Wow, I'm in love with Kinokuni Nene._

* * *

AN: Hi! I'm back :) Sorry for the long wait! So yeah, things are starting to pick up and hopefully I can actually write this story in a timely manner. I wanted to write some of the other first-year members but from here on, they don't really show up (I'm sorry, but my story doesn't call for it…). Also, I know next to nothing about kendo. I watched a short documentary on it and everything I wrote was basically what I got out of it...

Some helpful definitions:

 _Shinai_ \- weapon used for practice and competition in kendo representing a Japanese sword

 _Shikake waza_ \- techniques that you initiate

 _Oji waza_ \- techniques that you execute against your opponent as a counterattack

 _Hirai waza_ \- flipping your opponent's shinai up or down with your shinai

 _Dan_ \- the ranking system in kendo (and most martial arts). First being the lowest and eighth being the highest achievement. To put into perspective, in order to even qualify to get a third dan, you need to be at least 16 yrs old (practicing for at least three years since getting first dan at age 13). So being a third dan is a high achievement for a high schooler, for most fourth and fifth dan are in their 20s-30s.

 _Kanji_ \- Chinese "letters"

 _Hanshi_ \- Calligraphy paper

 _Fude_ \- Calligraphy brush

慧 ( _satoshi_ ) - Wise

寧々 ( _nene_ ) - Tranquility


	7. Opened Doors, Closed Hearts

**Betting on Love**

 **Ch. 7: Opened Doors, Closed Hearts**

* * *

She never returned with more brushes and it became apparent to Satoshi that she didn't expect to in the first place.

The boy watched Nene from his lab seat across the room, chuckling a bit as he watched the stern girl reprimand Yanai for not following the experimental protocols, _again_. The two were unusually behind schedule Satoshi noticed; spilled chemicals here, wrong measurements there. The normally elegant and precise Nene was — to what he would describe as — off.

He could sense her frustrations as she tried her best to keep her cool. Running a hand through her celadon locks, she revisited every equation and calculation of her lab notes; sighing deeply as she discovers error upon error on the sheet, setting the pair back even further. It surprised him as much as it did Mea when even Nene began giving the pink-haired girl tasks to do to make up for the time lost.

Something was _wrong_.

His eyes followed her as she retrieved another breaker from the back for the umpteenth time, observing the tautness in her posture and balling of her fists.

"What's going on with Kinokuni-san?" Isshiki's head jolted slightly at the question as his attention shifted back to his own experiment. "Hand me a 250 mil beaker."

Following his partner's command, he searched the assortment of glassware on the table, running his index finger along the lip of each beaker and flask. "Maybe titration isn't her thing," he laughed. "Ah, here."

A disappointed sigh left Shoko as she focused her attention back to her lab notebook. "Unlikely," she replied brusquely.

His partner's curiosity sparked something within himself as Kaburagi wasn't one to waste her words on small talk, let alone to butt into others business. "What makes you say that?" Satoshi asked, handing her the next piece of glassware in sequence.

Taking the beaker without a word, she inspected it against the light for a careful examination of any cracks or fissures, taking a minute to deem it acceptable for use. Raising an eyebrow in wait of his answer, it seemed his partner was doing the exact same evaluation of his question.

"We're in the same calculus class together. She's been getting the proofs wrong all week." Shoko started. Satoshi shifted uncomfortably at the announcement. Other than chemistry, he didn't have any other classes with Nene, but hearing of the girl's recent struggle in other subjects confirmed his instincts.

"It isn't just in math either. I heard Chapelle-sensei was trying to send her to the health room because she was getting so many easy things wrong." The brunette's eyes widened, looking back to the lab table where he found Nene and Mea now arguing.

"I was wondering if you knew anything about that. You two are close, aren't you?"

* * *

As soon as the bell rang, she was out the door. Her eyes were cold and hard from what he saw, filled with annoyance at the events that transpired in the lab that day. Gathering his things, Satoshi sighed in defeat. It was of no use to try and catch up with Nene that week as he had learned. It felt as if he was right at the beginning with her, finding it difficult to even get her attention, let alone her time to talk.

All attempts to talk with her were a bust — if he could even get the chance. He often found the council room empty after school with the exceptions of Rindou and Tsukasa-senpai on occasions, who would simply shrug at the brunette's questions regarding Nene's location. Whenever he checked the library afterward, her presence was absent there as well.

It was almost as if Nene became a myth that week; he knew of her, but could never find her alone. Whenever glimpses of her would pass in the hall, by the time he rounded the corner in pursuit, she was gone. He had even called her name but it fell on deaf ears.

When conversations were necessary, they were short and straight to the point; her eye contact would be everywhere but his face, further indication that it was _him_ she was avoiding. During council or debate meetings, she sat at opposite ends of the room despite the obviously saved seat next to him.

But even after this wild chase she's been sending him on, what stung the most was how coldly she interacted with him; as if the two were total strangers. It wasn't something new to Satoshi, but he really thought they had begun to make progress.

He wanted to make things right again.

* * *

By the time his debate prep meeting had gotten out, the sun had already turned a golden hue on the horizon. With their upcoming match in a couple of days, the first years were full of energy and youth as always; determined to come out on top once more. But with that came loads of documents that required revising, editing and delivery practice, making the meeting run longer than anyone had expected.

Satoshi was honestly a bit disappointed: he had wanted to check by the council room before he left to the dorms but the time was too late to even warrant a check. Walking down the path of the familiar courtyard, he let his mind remember what it was like to walk home alone. It surprised him how quickly he got set in the pattern of walking with Nene. Granted, their walks weren't very long together since their dorms were located on opposite ends of the campus, but the short stints were something he always looked forward to.

 _And now they hardly even talked._

He didn't really know why she was avoiding him or acting weird, but he wasn't stupid enough to believe it didn't have anything to do with what he did. Pausing his movements, he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, taking in the fresh air and tall white buildings around him as he let the wind tousle his curls. A slight ache resounded within his chest, hurt by his unrequited love, by the fact that he was the reason for this mess, but even more so by the idea that his thoughtless action might have hurt Nene. He didn't want to ruin _whatever it was_ they had, even if it meant putting his feelings on the back burner once more.

 _Maybe I can catch her on her way to calculus? Or maybe I can ask Rindou where she is during lunch if we have—_

"Woah! It's six already!" Satoshi heard a girl's voice exclaim, followed by the rough push of one of the building doors; the art building to be exact.

Turning around, Isshiki's eyes fell on a group of first-year girls exiting the building, talking feverishly with phones and school bags in hand.

"Wait!" He immediately called, grabbing the group's attention. "Hold the door!"

One of the perks about being in the council was that he had access to all of the club's quarterly activities and logistics, meaning he knew when and where most of the extracurriculars met. Satoshi knew the calligraphy club was meeting that day, but he had never expected their meeting to have been extended this late. Furthermore, it was incredibly difficult to enter the art building after school since all the staff leaves before noon. Only certain members of the calligraphy and drawing club have the pin code to the doors and permission to use the classrooms. _This was his chance._

Running quickly towards the confused set of girls, he waved crazily to ensure they saw him.

"Iss— Isshiki-senpai?" one of the girls stuttered in awe of his entrance (and looks).

"Did the calligraphy club just end?"

"Uh, yeah…" she answered, "about ten minutes ago. We are the last to leave, only Kinok—"

"Ah, thanks!" he took the handle of the ajar door, offering a smile towards the girls before disappearing inside the building in a rush.

* * *

His shadows hung long against the tiled floors of the empty and dark building. The large glass panes that lit the halls lined his path up the stairwell and towards the Japanese Arts classrooms. His footfalls were heavy with each of his steps but grew even more rapid as he heard the ever so slight rattle of a door pushed along it's rail to a close.

Reaching the top of the fourth floor, he rounded the corner of the hall, meeting his expected target in a breathless huff as she had just finished locking the classroom with a turn of a key.

"Yo," Satoshi smiled. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he rested his palms on his knees before straightening again to her surprised face.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, although it sounded less like a question and more of a scolding to him. "This building is supposed to be locked!"

"I caught one of your club members on their way out. They were nice enough to let me in."

Her breath drew sharp as her ruby eyes flared at the sight of him. He noticed her draw her arms and straps of her school bag closer to her body, bowing her eyesight away from his face. "I— I have stuff to do, you can see yourself out then!" Nene snapped, moving hurriedly past his figure in the middle of the hallway.

Reacting to her quick movements, he caught her shoulder turned away from him. "Hey! I came here to talk to you."

"What are yo— Let me go!" she yelled over her shoulder, before shrugging off his hand and continuing forward.

"Look," he started again, grabbing onto her wrist this time to twist her around. "I'm sorry I tried to kiss you. I didn't mean to upset you."

At the mere mention of the four lettered word, Nene froze. She attempted to look away but not before Satoshi could notice the red beginning to creep up to her ears. "I'm not upset about that!"

"Then why are you mad at me? Why are you avoiding me?" he pressed, much to her displeasure.

"I never said I was mad at you! Now let me—"

"Something is obviously upsetting you! If you just tell me I can fix—"

It was a battle of cut off sentences just as much as it was against his grip. "I need to go," Nene interrupted, finally managing to shake his hand off of her arm and escape his grasp. The moment she was free, she ran.

Wait, Kinokuni-kun!" he followed, determined to not let her out of his sight. "I'm sorry I tried to make a move on you! I wasn't thinking! Can we just forget about what I did?" he yelled towards her back since the distance was growing significantly. However, it seemed like he had no need to yell anymore as he found her paused in movement.

"Kinokuni-kun?" he asked wary, approaching her taut stance.

"...How can you say that?" she whispered, barely strong enough for Satoshi to hear.

"What?"

"How… How can you say that!" she turned around, furious. "How can you almost kiss me and then say that! Is forgetting something like that easy for you? Because it's been bothering me this entire week and I can't freaking focus on anything! How is that supposed to make me feel, you idiot!"

"No that's not what I—" Satoshi faltered as he understood her words. Her fist clenched tightly just as her jaw did the same. Nene's knotted brows framed her glaring eyes, but it was the glassiness within them that struck his soul.

Her _distraction_.

Her _avoiding him_.

Her _pushing him away._

Her _frustrations_.

"Kinokuni…" Satoshi began, feeling as if everything was finally beginning to make sense. "Do you like me?"

Her blush flared up at his question. "What! No way!" she stammered. Turning her sights away from him, she adjusted her glasses stiffly, fidgeting with the frames.

"Be honest," his voice called in the crystal clearness of the silence between them.

Reddening, she paused to cross her arms around herself, as if a child pouting for being caught in a lie. "Fine," she whispered, biting her lip from what Satoshi could see. " _Yes._ "

It took a while for Satoshi to process her words, unsure if he had actually heard correctly. He had spent the entire week dealing with the prospects of his rejection that it had never occurred to him what he should do in the opposite case. _He never believed the opposite case was possible_.

"But this isn't a stupid confession or love letter, okay!" Nene's voice raised, bringing him out from his thoughts. "You weren't thinking that day. I know that whatever happened was just an impulse or something. We've known each other for a while," pausing, she winced at her words, "there's no way you feel the same way especially when practically all the girls at this school like you too and since I've been so mean—"

He had heard all he needed to hear. Approaching her quickly, he lifted her chin, and to her surprise, he cut off her words with his lips on hers. A yelp escaped from her while her bag fell to the floor between them, but Satoshi didn't seem to notice as he got lost in electricity; the pleasurable current that seemed to rush through the both of them as he felt her goosebumps and his own hair begin to stand on end. As her mouth relaxed, he could begin to feel the smooth waxiness of the peppermint chapstick she had applied recently; taste its sweetness, and smell the slight hints of peonies from her silken tresses. He could feel the rushing pulses of her heart as his palm held her delicate face, and it made him all the more aware of his own that beat on like butterfly wings.

Slowly and hazily, his eyes opened as they parted. "Does that answer your doubts?" he whispered.

Continuing to hold her face close to his, the rapidness of her breathes reached his skin while her ruby eyes searched unsurely into his blue ones.

"I…" she hesitated, "still have some."

He smiled slightly at her confession, endeared by the stubbornness in her answer.

"We can't have that, can we?" he asked, not allowing her the time to answer before he kissed her once again.

* * *

Satoshi stood at the front of the bustling crowd, tapping his finger proudly on the names that rested in spots one and two of the laminated display. As shouts of glee and gasps of disappointment filled the air, Satoshi made this way through the ocean of second-year students all pushing to see their ranks on the latest semester exams.

Making his way back to the instructional classrooms, he found himself preoccupied with ways to congratulate his girlfriend on maintaining her top spot on the leaderboard, although he knew she would be preparing her accusations on how he could have tried harder to surpass her.

The thought of that conversation entertained him, so much so, he hadn't noticed that he had almost run into the third years.

"Yo, Isshiki!" Rindou called, catching his attention. "Something on your mind?" she teased.

"Hah, sorry Rindou-senpai, Tsukasa-senpai. I guess something is." He smiled sheepishly in admittance.

"Hoho, going to see Nene?"

"Yeah."

"Well, tell her we said hi!" Waving off, he continued passed the two council members.

"Ah, wait, Isshiki!" Rindou yelled. "Congrats on the new gym schedule! With all that time your stealing from my team, you guys better win at nationals!"

* * *

AN: Dedicated to the most awesome, kindest and sweetest graduate there is! Congrats Kana (kana . viola . stars)! I hope you enjoy this :)

Also, thank you to everyone for being patient! I'm finally free again and ready to write! I'm a bit rusty (if you can't tell) but I really appreciated all the comments and reviews I received when I was gone! Love you!


	8. The Real Winner

**Betting on Love**

 **Ch. 8: The Real Winner**

* * *

The brief sounding of the bell conducted the students in masses to close their textbooks and exit the class in what seemed like a chaotic symphony. While the teacher sighed at the relief of the sound, he sunk into his chair as the lunch break began to tick away. In the time it took for Satoshi to realize class was over, the room had already been cleared.

Quickly, the brunette packed his things in hopes that he still had a chance at beating the oncoming lunch rush. With his bag steady along his shoulders, the junior found himself too preoccupied with the idea of waiting behind indecisive students, that it took a steady pull of his bag straps to jolt him awake from his thoughts. Standing beside the entrance of the classroom was none other than Kinokuni Nene.

"I waited for you and you completely passed by me," she huffed, letting a displeased look settle on her face. The statement in itself took some time for him to register, as he wasn't used to _her waiting for him_. The two were dating for a while now, but it still felt like yesterday when he would be the one catching up to her figure in the distance.

"Hey," he greeted with bright eyes, "I thought you were eating with Rindou and Momo-senpai today?"

"I am… Are you not going to apologize? That was rather rude of you!" she complained.

He chuckled slightly much to her consternation, finding her fixation rather adorable. "Sorry, I was in a rush to get to the cafeteria. I forgot my lunch today," Satoshi admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Over the past couple of months, Nene had been making him lunch on Fridays since they ate together. But it completely slipped his mind that morning that she had plans with the council seniors.

"You idiot," Nene scolded lightly, nudging his arm at his mistake. "Here."

Lifting up the cloth wrapped box, she presented her offering towards his chest. Bewildered, Satoshi looked down to the box, taking the package softly with both hands as he continued to hold it close to him. While he managed to recover, his heart warmed as his girlfriend looked away shyly with arms crossed.

"Wasn't your last class history? You must have ran pretty fast to get here before I left," he smirked, leaning in closer. "I must have been on your mind the entire class period."

It amused him to see how quickly her shoulders perked up and her face reddened in embarrassment; how quickly her denial came despite how all of her actions indicated otherwise.

"Shut up! I didn't have to do this you know."

"I know," he smiled to her before landing a short peck on the side of her flushed cheek. "Thank you."

Returning to her original scowl, the heat from her face slowly cooled as they both straightened across one another. "You're so annoying," she mumbled. Despite her words, he could spy the slight glitter in her eyes as she appreciated his words.

"I know that too," he laughed.

"Well then," Nene started, "That's all I came here for. Rindou and Momo-senpai must be waiting for me… so bye then." Her green bangs bounced a little as she turned swiftly around on her heels.

"Ah wait, Nene!" Satoshi called.

"Hm?"

"Are you free after school today? Do you want to go on a date?"

Finishing her full rotation to face him again, she pinched the fabric of her skirt between her thumb and pointer as she hummed to his proposal. "I have a short calligraphy meeting with our advisor, and then I have to make some copies for the assembly. Can you wait for a bit?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay, meet me in the council room at around four then."

* * *

By the time Isshiki reached the council room, the halls of the building had been cleared of students. It was a nice kind of quiet and solitude that he had gotten used to in the empty halls, like a private world where it could be just the two of them. He loved how the acoustics of her voice echoed off the tiled floors and white walls; how her occasional laugh reverbed in his ears; how the sunlight bounced off her celadon hair, giving it a glassy and silken shine of porcelain. Sliding open the door, he expected that afternoon to be another one of those precious moments, but rather than the face of his beautiful girlfriend, he was met with two rather unexpected faces.

"Ack, what the hell is this!" he heard a familiar voice complain, shortly followed by the rustle of crumpled paper. "This doesn't make any sense at all!"

"What are you two doing here this late?" the brunette asked, stopping at the foot of the two council member's desks.

"What's it look like, Isshiki? Our paperwork is due soon," Eizan chided. With a sigh, the class treasurer returned to twirling his pen as he continued to scan the remaining papers for any pertinent information.

Taking a seat beside the two, Satoshi watched in the concentrated silence of the room. _The short-lived silence_. The sudden slam of Kuga's desk awoke the quiet afternoon as he continued to take his frustrations out on the table and lean back on his chair at an alarming angle.

"What's up with him?" he whispered, directing his question towards the man who seemed rather unbothered by his partner's outbursts.

"We've been here for two hours already. It's the midget's fault for doing all his work late."

"Who are you calling small, Mr. Grumpy Face!" Kuga interjected as if the M-word was enough to shake him from his frustrated trance.

"Who are you calling grumpy! I've been stuck with you sulking all afternoon!"

"Well maybe if Little Miss Pigtails didn't assign us so much council work, I wouldn't have procrastinated so long!"

"That doesn't make any sense, Kuga-kun," Satoshi pointed out with crinkled eyes. Agitated, Kuga plopped back down on the chair in a slouch, groaning as he side glanced his remaining paperwork into hell.

"It's like she's trying to torture me! No, she _is_ trying to torture me! She knows how much I hate facility logistics but what does she assign me? God damn, facility logistics! I could be on a date right now with Masae, but no, Pigtails just has to assign these stupid due dates—"

"—God, can you shut up already?" Eizan jabbed.

"Don't act like you don't hate this, too!"

"Well, maybe she assigns it to you because you're the best at doing it!" Isshiki beamed, trying to settle his classmates down.

"Oh ho," Kuga mocked, kicking up his legs on Isshiki's desk much to his dislike. "Don't try to flatter me, Loverboy. What was the point of going through all that trouble of trying to set you up with Pigtails when she still remains just as much of a hardass as when she was single? She's no woman… she's a monster or something!"

"Hey, you realize you're talking about my girlfriend, right?" Satoshi's lips pursed as he pushed off his legs.

"Ugh, stop calling her that!"

"I can't believe you're still dating her."

"—For like months!" Kuga interjected, pretending to throw up.

Satoshi couldn't believe the complaints from the two of them. "You guys were the ones that pushed me to ask her out!" he defended, exasperatedly.

"Well guess what, Isshiki? You got your votes and your precious gym schedule already, so you can call off that stupid bet anytime you would like!" It was hard for him to miss Kuga's eye roll following that statement, but as his shoulders relaxed a smile adorned Satoshi's face as he remembered who the real winner was.

"What? No way! That was the best bet I ever made!"

 _That smile didn't last long_.

"A bet?" he heard a quiet voice call from behind him, shaky and meek in tone. Quickly, he found himself off the chair and onto his feet as he turned fast to meet the girl he was waiting for, frozen at the doorway of the room holding a stack of papers to her chest. He stared at her with wide eyes, face blanched as it sunk in that she had walked in on something she wasn't supposed to have heard.

He caught her eyes darting from him to the two boys who also sat in shock behind him, followed shortly by a look away towards the uncleaned chalkboards to the side as her breathing slowly quickened and her throat constricted. He noticed her grip on the papers growing ever-so-slightly shaky and the stiffening of her jaw unsettled him to no end. _He knew what was coming next_.

Instantaneously, he made his way to her side, but before any sort of explanation reached his lips, the hard thud of a stack of copy papers met his chest followed by the sharp crackle of pages hitting the floor around him. Those split seconds was all she needed to leave his sights as the slam of the sliding door opened, reaching the ends of its tracks.

He followed desperately, knowing that whatever was going on in her mind — whatever she had heard — was only part of the truth; such a small, insignificant part that he wished didn't exist anymore. A stipulation he no longer wished to reap the rewards of. _Not if it meant hurting her_.

Finding a grasp on her once comforting hand that all but scalded him now with anger and hurt, he caught up to her. At his first hold, she forcibly pulled away, meeting his ocean eyes with fury.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"Nene…"

"Stop calling me that!" her voice seethed with pure venom. "You have some nerve using me like some stupid pawn just for a couple more hours in the gym!"

"That's not true!" Satoshi pleaded, letting troubled wrinkles settle into his distressed expression.

"What about that isn't true?" she accused, jutting her chin. Settling slowly back into her soles, she squeezed her eyes and fists shut as an ache overwhelmed her heart. "Switching lab partners, standing up for me during the debate, taking me on a date…" Nene paused, hating the salt that she tasted in the back of her throat. " _Kissing me…_ all of it… God, I feel like such an idiot."

"Please, let me explain—"

"—No, I've heard enough," Nene interrupted, sternly. "I'm done. _This_ is done." Her eyes burned with a fire of anger and the sorrow of tears as she backed away from him.

He hated how the echoes of her words stabbed his heart, not once, but multiple times.

He hated how her shouts reverbed such anger and pain.

He hated how the sunlight illuminated the tears that he caused to fall.

 _But worst of all, he hated what she said next._

"You got what you wanted, so never talk to me again."

* * *

AN: Credit to Kana for her wonderful OC and Kuga's girlfriend, Masae! (kana . viola . stars)!

This was a chapter I thought I would enjoy writing but was actually a pain, ugh! I tried my best for it not to seem rushed, especially since the last chapter was so happy -_-... Anyways, Isshiki is getting what he paid for it seems…

I hope you all enjoyed it! Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews and please look forward to the coming chapters!


	9. The Mediator

**Betting on Love**

 **Ch. 9: The Mediator**

* * *

It would be a lie to say Satoshi wasn't disappointed to see that his most recent text wasn't from the girl he had been leaving voice messages for, but rather from his superior. Two full weeks had past, full of dodged meetings and high tensions as Nene absolutely refused to interact with him in any form.

Satoshi eyed his phone tiredly as it blew up with an onslaught of messages from Rindou-senpai — a confusing combination of texting lingo and emojis. Reluctantly, he found the phone in hand as it continued to vibrate with incoming fragments of sentences, finally stopping when he opened the message chat:

 _ISSHIKI!_

 _VP meet in council room ASAP_

 _Come now!_

"Huh?" his eyebrows creased at the messages. First of all, he had not received any notification of a change in the meeting schedule. Even if there was one, never in his entire time in council had he gotten one from Rindou. Suspicion arose at the obvious red flags in the messages as he knew very well that she never cared for such obligations and found them boring.

 _We're not scheduled for today_ he texted back, setting his phone back down, obviously underestimating her texting speed for he quickly found himself having to respond back to her, again.

 _EMERGENCY!_

 _Tsukasa's gonna have a damn panic attack… HURRY UP!_

At the mentions of the overseeing council president, Rindou managed to pique Satoshi's interests, or rather, slight concerns. But then again, Rindou's wording always tended to be over exaggerated and her overuse of caps didn't help, Satoshi evaluated.

 _Why?_ The brunette typed.

 _HUGE error on the exam forms! They are due TOMORROW!_

 _If it's not fixed, both our heads are done for T-T_

 _NOWWWWW_

"What?" Satoshi complained out loud, earning him an irritated "shhh" from the librarian. Quickly apologizing, he couldn't help but sigh as he made haste to gather his things. The exam preparations were the sole responsibility of the vice presidents to sort out, and with the date of implementation drawing closer, a mistake on forms such as those wouldn't just screw up the workings of just the council, but the entire school. His relationship was already a mess, the last thing he needed was for this to happen as well.

 _I'll be there in 5._

* * *

The last thing Isshiki wished to be greeted by was a slumped backed Rindou, twirling her meeting chair nonchalantly as the stick of a lollipop hung from the corner of her lips. Furthermore, in the midst of him trying to catch his breath from his sprint over to the room, he saw no signs of the freshman vice president, no signs of Tsukasa-senpai, and much to his displeasure, no signs of the much-discussed exam forms.

"Rindou-senpai…" he began laboredly, taking a pause to calm his winded breathing, "where are the forms?"

The redhead perked up at his entrance, taking note of the long hand on the hanging clock as she went to pat her junior on his doubled over back. "Right on time, Isshiki! A minute to spare!" she laughed. Before he could say much else, the woman already perched herself on the edge of one of the wooden desked, letting an audible crack puncture the unanswered silence and in the process, threw away the paper stick with no evidence of hardened sugar on it.

"The forms…" Isshiki repeated, straightening to meet her.

A heavier crunch of candy resounded now, as the woman played in thought. "What forms?" Rindou asked, golden eyes wide and pupils dilated in innocence. She maneuvered in blissful feline ignorance, one that suggested a mischievousness that she chose not to acknowledge. As she continued her charade, Isshiki noticed the slight curve of her mouth as he knew she took satisfaction in him falling for her bait.

"Rindou-senpai, what are you try—"

"I found some of the past issues, but I couldn't find the…" Satoshi turned quickly to see their unannounced guest falter mid sentence. There he stood facing her as the cardboard box hit the table with a solid thud. He noticed her frames were slightly askews, perhaps shifted from the heavy load. Despite that, it only magnified her surprise as she stood frozen with mouth agape much like him.

"Nene!" Rindou cheered. Pushing herself off the desk, the rubber soles of her shoes squeaked against the floors, indicating the only movement among the three in the room. "Thanks for bringing those, but I don't need them anymore!"

"What? Why did you call me all the way—" Nene complained before flinching. The senior settled herself behind the president, placing both her hands on Nene's shoulders like a mother introducing her daughter. The grip was firm against her resistance as if to escort the unwilling girl further into the room and farther from the exit she was eyeing.

"Oh yeah Isshiki, nothing's wrong with those forms. Perfect job as always!" Satoshi could only stare dumbly as Nene's eyes darted back and forth between him and her captor. The slight dragging and eventual shuffling of feet began as Rindou began pushing the girl closer to him, much to her protests and curses.

"Rindou-senpai! What are you doing!" Finally, with a shove, Nene broke free from her grip, only to find herself face to face with his dumbfounded expression.

"It's time for you to talk out your problems," Rindou huffed, finding her position back on the edge of the desk in front of them.

"Rindou-senpai…" Satoshi sighed defeatedly, as he knew her little trick would do nothing but incite a stronger rage within the girl. _And he was right._

"This is none of your concern, senpai," Nene glared, crossing her arms and turning away like she refused to acknowledge his presence. "Stop sticking your nose in other's business just because you're bored."

"I knew you would say that, Nene. I am your friend after all and I know you're always so grumpy!" Rindou smiled, and Satoshi could have sworn he heard Nene say 'we aren't friends,' under her breath. "But I'm also your guy's superior, and as a senior council member, it's my job to look after my juniors and make sure your council's productivity isn't falling."

"When have you ever cared about that?" she further chastised.

"Well, I never had to before. But now I've heard that for the past two weeks you two haven't been talking to one another and your council members are all avoiding you both! That's a huge issue and if you both don't resolve it now, I have no choice but to report this to the head master."

It felt weird to be reprimanded by Rindou if Satoshi had to be honest. As much as he hated her methods, she had a point. It also didn't hurt that he wished to resolve things with Nene as well.

"I agree with Rindou-senpai," he spoke, relaying the answer directly to the green-haired girl rather than to his superior.

"Well, you better agree, Isshiki." Rindou smirked, "You're the one that shortened my gym time after all."

* * *

When Rindou said "talking," Satoshi never would have imagined it to be like this. Rather than the simple, face-to-face sitdown he had hoped for, the young man found himself standing behind one of the two mock debate podiums in the room, with the other located in front of Nene as well.

"What are we even doing?" she complained. Leaning against the slant of the stand, Nene held her temples and sighed in annoyance, probably finding the developments of the situation just as hopeless and ridiculous as he did.

"This is a debate! You two should be familiar with this already, right?" Rindou announced from a table across from both of them. "I'm your moderator."

"This is pointless, I have nothing to debate with him!"

"Well, according to the rules here," the redhead skimmed the binder that looked all to familiar to the both of them. "If the negative is unable to present an argument, by default the team or individual forfeits the match," Rindou read.

"Where did you even get that— and wait, why am I the negative?"

"It just fits your personality better," Rindou teased, "and I'll never reveal my sources."

"It was Tsukasa-senpai, wasn't it…" Nene grumbled under her breath.

Satoshi could only lay witness to the back and forth banter between the women. If anything, the whole thing just confused him at most; he knew Rindou was doing him a favor by giving him an opportunity to talk with Nene. But on the other hand, he didn't want to force her into talking with him when she obviously wasn't happy about it.

His will to fix the issues between them and his desire to give her space were at odds within him, and a part of him wanted to stop everything the moment Rindou awkwardly began dragging out podiums from the supply room. _But, the other part of him knew this was his only chance._ The entire divide between the two of them since they were children formed from "his desire to give her space." It took years for Satoshi to learn that Nene never made the first move and before he'll know it, that "space" will become an indefinite distance between them if he continues to let her and himself ignore the problem.

"Basically, getting back on topic, if you don't participate, Isshiki wins and therefore he is right, you're wrong."

"Rindou…"

"Rindou-senpai!" Nene seethed in hot anger.

"Good, I see you're riled up, let's begin!" Rindou grinned, despite her junior's obvious disapproval of the stipulations. "Let's skip all that mushy opening stuff and start with the affirmative. Isshiki please present your side."

Despite Rindou's "efforts" to facilitate the conversation in ways both understood well, Satoshi himself was completely uncomfortable under her awaiting eyes. He had had plenty of debate experience under his belt, most of them in fact, with Nene as his opponent. It was normal for him to feel cool and calm behind the podium; to take control of the situation right away. But as his mind spun, it seemed that whatever perspectives or arguments he was trying to grasp at kept slipping through.

"Yes," he began simply, "I started this whole thing because I needed your vote during the council meeting." Taking a deep breath, Satoshi could feel the glare from Nene as he confessed to something he wasn't proud of. "But," he started with conviction, earnestly pleading into her angry eyes he continued, "nothing I said; nothing I did to you was a lie."

"Ha," Nene scoffed, shaking her head, "what you just said was a lie right there! You just admitted your motive was to get something out of me, that's manipulating!"

"Nene, this isn't your turn! Isshiki get to your point," Rindou scolded.

"He has no point!" Nene reasoned.

"This is your second warning, shall I incur a penalty!"

"There are no penalties in debate!" she groaned, slammed her hands against the podium.

"I'm the judge, I can make the rules—"

"Both of you!" Satoshi yelled over their bickering. A silence fell over the room as both eyes settled onto him. Calming down, he resumed measuredly, "Rindou-senpai, I think this would be better if you left. It's difficult to discuss personal stuff when our superior is here."

"What! Do you know how much coordination it took to set all of this up!" the moderator whined.

"Yes, we..." Satoshi paused, trying to find an appropriate response, "...appreciate that. But we've had enough mock debates to handle this ourselves." Despite the calmness of his demeanor, he could tell Rindou saw the intensity behind his request.

"Fine. But if Nene hits you, I won't be here to stop her…" Rindou submitted, grabbing another lollipop from her bag before making her way to the door. "I'll be nearby so don't even think about leaving without talking!"

The two students watched as the door closed behind their nosy senior. In the moments following, Satoshi wasted no time to continue their discussion.

"It was just motivation to get me to talk to you," he replied. "But I was genuine with how I treated you. After a couple of weeks, I wasn't even interested in the schedule anymore, I was interested in you!"

Even from his distance, he noticed her fingers curl against the grain into a fist as she refused to meet his words eye to eye.

"Why didn't you just tell me about the vote for the schedule beforehand?" Nene countered lowly.

Now it was his turn to scoff. "Come on, Nene. You know you wouldn't have supported it even if I had asked. We weren't even on talking terms back then."

"So you made me fall in love with you instead?" she retorted.

Satoshi could feel his self-control begin to slip, as they both continued in this loop of the argument. "I was myself the entire time. _I didn't make you do anything_!" The hand gesturing towards himself moved forward towards her. "You were the one who fell in love with me!"

Her eyes flared up at his comments as her stance stiffened and shoulders rose. Following the dragging sound of the stand being pushed away, he watched her figure storm up to him as if the podium wasn't enough to contain her emotions anymore.

"You have quite the audacity to say this is my fault!" She poked his chest.

"I never said that! I'm just clarifying facts."

"You wanna clarify facts? How about this? You had a motive, and I was convenient. Our whole relationship was based upon my deception and it didn't cross your mind that perhaps your actions might hurt me… But you never considered my feelings to begin with, not when we were kids and definitely not now."

He watched her face fall from one of wrath to defeat while her eyes began to sink along with his heart. "I'm done with this," she whispers hoarsely.

In the seconds he sees her begin to move away, he feels the last thread of restraint snap within him as he was tired of all the emotions that couldn't be conveyed through words. Suddenly, he finds his hand — tense with veins — cradling her face with his other holding her shoulders, guiding her surprised and straightened lips to his own. He feels her complaints against him as her words become muffled sounds and her hands pushed against his dress shirt. He ignores their jagged movements and the haphazard steps of her penny loafers, or the way he has to lean forward as her knees buckle under his height, deepening the kiss. Instead, he focuses with eyes tightly shut, on making her feel — with everything he has — how much he misses her; how much she means to him; how much he loves her; how much he refuses to let her go again.

Soon her struggle stills, as her hands stop pushing but now grip the fabric of his uniform tightly. He feels her heart beat incredibly against his chest despite her body relaxing into his hold. A single trail of wetness streams over his palms as he wipes her shed tear.

It is only then he believes he can feel her emotions just as much as she could feel his.

Slowly, they break away. His hold feathers over her shoulders, and as their breathing syncs, he watches her ruby orbs flutter open while her grip of him drops. They stand in each others company, lingering on what they had just felt.

"Can't you tell I'm serious about you?" Satoshi uttered.

Taking steps backward, Nene left his hold looking only down to the floor. "Good luck with your competition. I hope the extra practice paid off." His vacant gaze followed her figure as she gathered her things and quickly left the room, moving past Rindou who could only offer pitiful eyes towards Isshiki from the doorway.

* * *

AN: This chapter was weird to write, tbh. Maybe because I recently came back from a month of writing nothing… heh. I hope this chapter is coherent, and not too OOC...

I hope you enjoyed reading and look forward to the final chapter! I can't believe I made it this far in this story, it wouldn't have been possible without all of your guys positivity and support!


	10. What It Means

**Betting on Love**

 **Ch. 10: What It Means**

* * *

The normally deafening sound of shouting teammates and the cheering audience seemed like white noise. _None of them were the voice he wanted to hear anyways_. Nothing seemed to be able to gather the muddled thoughts and reality of the situation for the teen. Not the referee; not the coaches; not his opponent; and certainly not himself.

His former instructor always used to enforce a mental clarity; valuing a focused mind with nothing, rather than with something. Despite his reputation for being a somewhat eccentric scatterbrain, in truth, he always had an impeccable ability to sync his thoughts with his actions — it's what made him a great athlete and _kendo_ practitioner.

But obviously, something was off.

It felt like he was in a lazy afternoon session, simply running through the motions without any meaning or significance. It wasn't the fact that he simply chose not to take the atmosphere of the nationals seriously, it was that he simply didn't have the motivation to understand why he would in the first place.

His opponent fully masked and donned in a similar _gi_ to his held him in a lock, face to face, eyes to emotionless eyes. Nothing other than a black-clothed stranger registered to him and things such as strategy seemed troublesome to contemplate. The face of an enemy was something he was always taught to focus on, but he found his thoughts stuck on her tear-stricken face instead. As he gripped the bamboo in hand, it weighed unusually heavy, as did the rest of his body as his challenger took control of the floor and led Satoshi backward. With every step, it felt like he was sinking further and further into those gym floors; no more lithe footing but rather unsteadiness.

In swift movements, the opponent wasted no time to attack leaving a minimal window for Satoshi to defend, not because the opponent was fast, but because he was slower than usual. It felt as if his commands were getting lost in translation on its way to his limbs, but the problem was that the commands were never correct to begin with. Constantly, he found himself making stupid mistakes: twisting his wrists; leaving his shoulders open; and miscalculating distances, wracking up an impressive list of errors within his short five-minute match.

Finally, a moment of opportunity opens for Satoshi, at least he believes it does. In an effort to finish the match, he boldly steps out of the lock-up seizing his chance to earn the final point.

Except that never comes.

Instead, he finds himself embarrassingly stumbling forward as his "moment of opportunity" vanishes at his incredible mistiming and misjudgment. Even the referee eyes him, as the entire building finds the event of one of the highest-ranked _kendoka_ losing an early match unbelievable. He watches the official raise the flag that didn't belong to him and a part of him didn't care. _What was the point anymore? What does it even mean?_

* * *

"Hey Nene, let's go out huh?" Rindou sighed, letting the uncapped pen of hers roll out of her hand. "We've been at this boring stuff for hours. Just let Tsukasa do it!" The redhead's pleading eyes and pursed lips were useless against Nene's profile as she knew her complaints fell on deaf ears. Watching as the clock ticked mercilessly slower than usual, Rindou suffered in the silence that her junior was giving her. After listening to the faint rustle of papers, or the seemingly continuous scribbles of ink for hours since that morning, she craved for any sort of escape from that madness.

In an attempt to rouse any sort of reaction from the girl, Rindou scoured her bag, searching for a crumpled up flyer ad that she eventually found. "There's a new doughnut shop in town! Let's take a break and get some. I got a coupon, see!" The senior held the pitiful paper up in glee, presenting it towards Nene like a child who would hold up a report card to their parents.

Not even a glace was spared.

"Come on! I knew it, you are still mad at me!" She bleated, dropping her posture just to slump back into her chair.

"I was just trying to help you two out!" _Nothing_.

"It's a Saturday!" _Nothing._

"I wanna eat doughnuts!" A slight twitch rested on Nene's brow.

"Nene, doughnuts!" she nagged further.

"Nene—!"

Finally, the sharp turn of Nene's head swung the girl's pigtails unintentionally across her shoulders, making her pissed off features as menacing as her aura. "Go by yourself!" she scolded.

Surprised, Rindou flinched at the girl's sudden words. But as soon as its effects wore off, Rindou found herself back to her normal, mischievous self as she confirmed that Nene's silent treatment wasn't unbreakable. A devilish smile hung on her lips.

"Aw, don't be like that!" she teased, sauntering up and around to the front of her fellow council member's desk. Looking down to the seated, green-haired girl — whose eyes were solely focused on the writings of her pen — in one, fluid movement, Rindou grabbed the metal frames of Nene's glasses, effectively garnering the attention of her shock, but blurry vision.

"Hey! Give those back!" she protested, clumsily getting up from her desk chair to chase the thief's hazed figure. As Nene stumbled blindly into practically every desk in the room, she grew more and more annoyed at her senior's hearty laugh and time-wasting antics. She wasn't completely blind, but she had a difficult time making out the fuzzy outline of shapes and their distances to one another. This is proven when she unknowingly ran straight into Rindou's still figure by the open doorway.

"Um sorry, is this Building C, room 3-1?" a voice out of nowhere called.

"Yup, that's us…" Rindou confirmed, raising an eyebrow "Do you have business with the Totsuki council?"

Taking advantage of Rindou's pause, she steadied herself enough to search the length of Rindou's arm, patting it in efforts to find where her hand started, only for Rindou to hold it nonchalantly in front of her face as she dealt with the mysterious stranger.

"Oh yes," Nene heard the feminine voice perk up, "you look different without your glasses."

As Nene finally took a grip of her glasses, her eyes squinted as she readjusted back to clear vision. Slowly, the blurriness of the stranger morphed into a familiar face.

"You know each other?" Rindou asked

"Uh yeah…" Nene tried to recount exactly where she had met the woman, only to notice the cellophane bouquet of flowers in her hand. "You're the florist from the stand in town…"

A smile dawned on the woman's face as she approached Nene's confound one. "I think these are for you," she said, presenting the bouquet to which she took hold of reluctantly.

"I don't normally grow these since they tend to be sort of fickle flowers," the florists started, "but your boyfriend put in an order for these months ago. He asked me to deliver them here."

"My boyfriend?" Nene repeated, brows furrowed but eyes soft as she looked upon the flowers.

"Yeah! I asked him if he had a message or wanted a card with it, but he said you'll know what they mean. I guess this is the least I could do for a cute, young couple that always appreciates my flowers," she marveled, clapping her hands together, humming in middle-aged lady happiness.

Her ruby eyes traced each curve of the flower's elegant shape, taking note of the subtle bend and airiness of each petal. The collection of bright yellow buds filled her nose of the sweet scent of perfume. Nene's grip crinkled the cellophane twist, holding the bouquet closer to her beating chest.

"Pretty flowers, Nene."

"Yeah, my favorite..." her voice trailed off, unsure of how to reply to his message of _red camellias_.

* * *

He could see Shun's mouth moving, his hand pointing to the scoreboards and opponents. But none of those words fully processed in Satoshi's head.

"—What's up with you, senpai? The coach thinks you have a concussion or something."

"Uh no… I'm fine," he managed to reply.

Satoshi caught his junior's sigh, along with a glimpse of concern in his eyes that were quickly eclipsed by his shaggy hair. "—win this match and you can still make the top 6." he caught the latter part of Shun's sentence. He only nodded half-heartedly in response, tired of the senseless repetition of facing opponents that he had no will to defeat.

"You're up," he reminded, seconds before Satoshi's name was called over the speakers.

Placing his mask back on, he picked up his _shinai_ from the stand and gathered to the center of the gym, ready for his five minutes of defeat. With a sigh, he readied his position and bowed towards his opponent. At the call of the official, Satoshi held his shallow stance, pivoting his sword to the slight moments from the guy across from him, but nothing more, forgetting to even give return his opponent's customary shout to indicate competitive spirit.

Quickly, he finds a sword raised against him; watching the man's forward movements as Satoshi fails to take his own backward ones. In reflex, he shifts his aching arm muscles in defense, but it was too late. He felt the slight thwack of the _shinai_ against his chest, followed by a raised flag in confirmation of his opponents very early first point.

 _Just the beginning of another terrible match_.

The crowd erupted in a mixture of cheers from the rival school, loud gasps from the audience and groans from his own team. Before he could catch himself in his own misery, his opponent locked him up in another face-off. Pressuring Satoshi's ground, pushing him around the court as he did nothing but defend against the guy's onslaught of strikes. Opportunities, when his opponent was clearly open, were never fulfilled and as his adversary continued, it became obvious that his movements were sloppy.

But he could have cared less. _What if he lost a point? What if he lost the match? What was the point of winning it anyway? What did it matter?_

"What are you doing!" he hears a shout cut across the audience, snapping him out of his thoughts. Desperately, his eyes search the crowd of people in the stands, only to settle on a petite figure by the wall of the gym, wondering if she's an illusion or if she was really there.

"Stopping playing around!" She yelled again to his widening eyes. _Was she really calling to him? She never comes to these kinds of stuff. Is she here for me?_

"Nene…" he whispered in disbelief between labored breaths. _She really is—_

Before Satoshi could finish his thought, the sound of sliced air caught his ears, instinctively causing him to barely catch the swinging bamboo from the corner of his eye. In the fraction of a second, he found his grounding again, and despite being in a terrible stance, he found more severe errors in his opponent's. Caught up in his own arrogance during the match, he left himself completely unbalanced, allowing for Satoshi to quickly dodge and counter-attack effectively.

Not even needing to see the official's gesture, he quickly repositions himself, this time taking the initiative to lock up his opponent. His head clears with the impact of the swords and for once, he sees his opponent properly: shock and fear play in their eyes as a sudden confidence creeps back into his own.

* * *

Amongst the ocean of people filing out of the gym, he runs towards them as soon as he is released. Becoming pushed and shoved amongst the masses, he calls for her, searching frantically. He stops any person that remotely could be her, only to find himself apologizing hurriedly in order to move on to the next one.

Soon most of the crowd is gone, with a few stranglers hanging out in the stands.

Seeking the remaining few in the outer hall, his posture slumps as none of them look like Nene. _Maybe I was hallucinating. Maybe she didn't actually come—_

"Took you long enough."

Immediately, Satoshi followed the sound of her voice, finding her standing, arms-crossed by the vending machines. Unconsciously, he moves towards her, refusing to shift his focus from anything but her solemn eyes and frown.

"You came…" he murmured. Stopping in front of her, he watched Nene's head lower as she turned away from his face to look towards his bare feet. He had been so in a rush to find her, he had forgotten to take the time to put on his shoes from the court.

"I did…" she replied stiffly, and for a second, Satoshi was sure that was where their conversation would end. Until she continued, quietly.

"I got your flowers…" Nene began. Satoshi watched her fingers clasped around each other, constantly clenching and unclenching as she weighed her words. "...and your message." He caught himself leaning in closer as it felt like thoughts still hung on her lips.

"I didn't think you would remember something like that."

 _He had remembered it vividly, in fact._ Her face when she was given a flower; how her smile had betrayed her aloof facade and for the first time showing him a glimpse at her happiness. He remembered how much it affected him and how much he wished to see it again.

"I mean it, you know. I didn't understand what it meant back then, but I do now," he pauses, "because of you."

He watches her take a deep breath, letting her arms drop to her side as her gaze moves up to meet his. "I do too…" she whispers.

His chest constricts as the breath he found himself holding finally escapes his parted lips. The fabric of his _hakama_ rustles softly as he impulsively gathers her in a sudden hug. Satoshi's arms gather tightly around the small of her back as a quiet yelp is spoken into his ears. A sighed leaves his body, as well as all the tiredness and aches that plagued it from earlier. He feels comfortable in the small arms that move up to hug him back.

Slowly, he grips Nene's shoulders lightly, pushing her away from their embrace just enough to lean down to capture her lips just as she had captured his heart as well. Parting, he rests his forehead on hers, while breathless smiles linger between both of them.

"You were really pathetic out there," Nene joked, causing him to pull away in time to see her chuckle lightly. He couldn't help but laugh along at her mood spoil.

"Hey, sixth isn't bad!" he defended, pretending to be insulted. "There were some tough guys out there."

"Mhmm," Nene hummed, teasingly.

"Was it that bad?"

At Nene's nod, Satoshi finds himself sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Ahh, but it's alright, I'll win it next year."

"What makes you so sure?" her eyebrows raise at his sudden declaration.

She watches him move to hold her hand with an earnest delicateness and strength. Finding it warm, compassionate and true.

"You'll be by my side, right?"

She's surprised by his question, but a smile plays in her heart as she returns his hold.

* * *

AN: It's finally done! I hope this didn't seem too rushed… I tried my best to finish this before I get really hectic again :)

I just want to thank everyone who has stuck around with this story and supported it. This is my very first real multi-chapter fic that I have managed to actually stick around with and not abandon lol. Despite its flaws, I'm proud of it and I'm really glad I was able to contribute some writing to this ship. This was some good character exploration and plot development practice for me; one of my biggest goals I want to work towards in the future is to make a more intricate story with meaningful details, so this story with some ongoing plotline details is a good stepping stone.

Last but certainly not least, thank you to everyone who reviewed. Thank you for taking the time to leave a nice comment or constructive criticism. It really makes my day to see those email updates! I love you all!

~IsshiNene

Shout out to my reviewers: rocketandroll17, Takiyaki, Goodalwayswins98, Rookie.001, Lydia Silverdust, woofyy, kana . viola . stars (ignore the spaces, fanfiction won't let me post her user...), unofficialDuck, Shiranai Atsune, Guests (all of them!), Lys_chan_83, chrollosworshipper, Heina, and dashofcinnamons!


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